February 8, 2016

    From South Coast Backcountry Touring, explanation below. Lauren Hughes text and picture.

Observed a size 2+ slide on a South facing slope North East above the Wendy Thompson Hut  yesterday at 1:00 pm. It was human triggered and the slope let go after the 12th member of that party skied it. There were two partial burials and one full burial. We were able to help locate and recover all members of their party. Search and Rescue was notified when we got back in reception near Pemberton. Stay safe!

    Early Sunday Morning, February 7, 2016.

    Sunday morning snowing lightly at 1860 meters, with no wind.

    Had a moist overcast look in the morning.

    Certainly less people than Saturday.

    Still found some nice snow and fresh tracks yesterday morning.

    Snow was feeling the temperature increase by noon.

    Inversion by the afternoon. 0 Deg at 2240 meters by 13:00 Hours, -1 at 1550 meters.


Weather Observations for February 8, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      0, Winds were 25-35 KPH S         --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    +1, Winds were 30-35 KPH SSW   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters    +3, Winds were 15-25 KPH ESE    --Rendevous
1835 meters    +5, Winds were 10-20 KPH SSE    --Roundhouse
1650 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 238 cm Base, RH 100%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 192 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.9. 1.2 mm of Precip recorded

   As of 07:00 Hours we have broken cloud and unlimited visibility.

For the forecast, dry and mild weather for today into Tuesday as a strong ridge builds over the Pacific Northwest. A westerly flow aloft will keep some clouds in the mix for today. The FL will rise today to 3200 + meters, peaking tonight than slowly descending to 2300 meters by Tuesday evening. The warm ridge will move East Wednesday morning allowing the first of a series of warm fronts to move onshore. Freezing levels on Wednesday will hover around 2000 meters with a bit of a dip in the evening. We could receive some snow by Thursday morning above 1700 meters. A strong wet, warm, windy system for Thursday with the FL allowing rain pretty much to the peaks of the local mountains. Do not even want to talk about Friday as the 3 W's will likely be in play. Saturday at this time is looking cooler.

    High pressure for Monday, with some cloud in the area.

    High pressure pushing low to the North.

    Westerly Flow Aloft Today.

    High pressure for Tuesday.  More sun than cloud. Warm front moves onshore Wednesday morning.


ARTICLES:

Coast Mountain Backcountry Report, February 7, 2016: Escape Route

Update on Size of the Avalanche in Austria, February 7, 2016: PraquePost

Climber "surfed" avalanche in 1000 Ft drop: Scotland

Conditions on Mount Renshaw were ripe for avalanche activity on Jan 30 Th: Avalanche Canada

Black diamond product recall on carabiners and quick draws: Subject to inspection

Avalanche course geared for snowmobilers takes place in Whistler: Global News

    Saturday morning, High slowly pushing in.

    High pressure to our South is Huge and Warm.

     Looks like the North Coast is in for a bit of a pineapple.

    As it warms up cornices may become an issue!!

    Tree skiing was still good yesterday morning.

    Good morning for the Parson's Cup.

    Much better race day than Saturday.

    There were some brief glimpses of sun yesterday morning.

    Ice will be melting in the next two days.

    Alexander Falls Sunday afternoon.