January 13, 2016

    First lift up, 07:35 Monday January 12, 2016. Snowing very lightly. Shot taken from Wizard Chair.

     Some soft slabs on Leeward terrain features.

   Visibility was ok at times in the morning.

    Dust on cord in the morning.

    Black on White, snowing lightly at 16:00 Hours.

    After sunset which was officially at 16:33 yesterday.


Weather Observations for January 13, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -4, Winds were 25-30 KPH SSE    --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    -7, Winds were 20-25 KPH SSW   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters    -3, Winds were 15-20  KPH ESE   --Rendevous
1835 meters    -1, Winds were 5-30 KPH SSE      --Roundhouse
1650 meters     0, 16 cm of new snow, 18 cm in 24 hrs, 183 cm Base, RH 96%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    -2, 17 cm of new snow, 19 cm in 24 hrs, 143 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters    -1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -1.3. 4.3 mm of Precip recorded

Avalanche control yesterday produced isolated Size 1 wndslb in Lee Alp Szs with Xe and Sc.

40-80 KPH winds out of the SSE last night during precipitation event.

    As of 07:00 Hours this am at 1835 meters we have overcast skies and variable visibility.

For the forecast, a weak upper trough will bring cloudy weather today with the chance of some intermittent snow flurries in a Southwesterly flow aloft. The freezing level will hover around 1200 meters, but the models have been off so we may get lucky again. There is also the possibility of some warm air aloft with an injection of a warm Southerly moist air mass. Thursday into Friday morning will be unsettled with a mix of sun, cloud and isolated flurries. The next series of fronts will bring light snowfall on Friday into Saturday with a Southwest Flow. As of now snow will continue into Sunday and Monday, with the FL hovering around the 1100 meter mark. Bring it on!! There is some inconsistency in the models so guesstimates will change.
Guesstimates: 1-3 cm by Thursday morning, 1-3 cm by Saturday morning, 10-15 cm by Sunday morning, 20-30 cm by Monday morning.

    Clouds for today, unsettled by tonight.

    Unsettled for Thursday.

    Flow for Thursday into Friday.

    Looking ahead, if the  front remains in tact for Saturday we could get some great snow Sunday.

ARTICLES:

Record calls for Whistler Search & Rescue over the holidays: Question

Pacific Ocean on West Coast changing with Global Warming: Science Daily

The rebirth of an avalanche centre: Powder

Mountain Rescue Aspen workshop helps backcoutry users make good decisions: Colorado

Lucky escape for a British Snowboarder caught in an avalanche last weekend: France

Enormous avalanches cover Cervinia, Italy and Bessans, France: StrangeSounds

     Image yesterday morning 09:45.

    Low was bringing winter weather to the South Coast Mountains. Big picture yesterday afternoon.

    View to the valley early Monday morning.

    Cat working the access to Horstman Glacier.

    Pushing snow on Lower Cruiser.

    Freezing rain Monday evening at the Nester's weather plot. -2 at 20:00 Hrs Monday night.