March 22, 2016

    Little hope in recovering any survivors from Northern Pakistan Avalanche, story below:    Net Pic

    Two perspectives on the size of the Pakistan Avalanche.                                                  Net Pic

    Snowing at 900 meters 07:30 Hours Monday March 21, 2016.

    Some breaks early in the morning, no wind at 08:00 Hours.

    Snow in 7Th Heaven was skiing well in the am.

    All 13 cm of it.

    There was some decent light in the morning and at times no visibility.

    Some nice light in the afternoon, before it became obscured.

    Sun did cause some snow balling.

    Some nice light in the valley at 17:00 Hours, below the moist cloud layer.


Weather Observations for March 22, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -6, Winds were 5-10 KPH WNW --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters     -4, Winds were 5-10 KPH WNW --Whistler Peak 
1860 meters     -4, Winds were 5-10 KPH E        --Rendevous
1835 meters     -3, Winds were   0-5 KPH SE     --Roundhouse 
1650 meters     -1, 3 cm of new snow, 3 cm in 24 hrs, 330 cm Base, RH 98%    --Pig Alley
1550 meters     -2, 3 cm of new snow, 3 cm in 24 hrs, 257 cm Base, RH 100%  --Catskinner

  660 meters    +3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +9.4. 10.2 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud and variable visibility.


Avalanche control yesterday produced Size 1-1.5 soft slabs Xe, Sc, Na. A few size 2 cornice drops.


For the forecast, upper trough will move through this morning to the East with a weak ridge of high pressure just to our South. Mostly cloudy this morning above the valley floor with some breaks  this morning into this afternoon in the upper elevations as the flow switches from Southerly to Northwesterly. The FL will hover around 1600 meters dropping tonight to around 1300 meters.    A weak cold front will move through on Wednesday with an impulse of moderate precipitation Wednesday night into Thursday morning in a moist Westerly flow. A moist North-Northwest flow will follow the cold front on Thursday with cooler showery weather and a FL in the 1200 meter range. Friday is looking unsettled with cooler temperatures and intermittent snow flurries in a Northwesterly flow as an offshore high pressure is moving in from the South. There is little confidence in the weekend forecast so more on that in the next couple of days. Guesstimates: Trace-2 cm by Wednesday morning, 15-20 cm by Thursday morning, 2-4 cm by Friday morning.

    Image from this morning.

    Cloudy this morning with sunny breaks this afternoon into this evening.

    Northwesterly flow for today.

    Front on Wednesday with a cold front for Wednesday night.

   Thursday will see the low bring cloudy conditions to the area with light precipitation.


ARTICLES:

Solo Snowshoer killed in Kananaskis Country avalanche: Alberta

No hope for survival in Northern Pakistan Avalanche: Chitral

Snowmobiler killed after falling into a crevasse on the Appa Glacier: Pemberton Ice Cap

Ice axe may be "clue" in hunt for missing climbers: Scotland

Evaluation of Tech Binding Release Function: Backcountry.com

Whistler Blackcomb surpasses average annual snowfall-Open until May 30, 2016: WB

    Image Monday morning, 08:30 Hours

   Four hours later than above image with some breaks over Whistler.

    Big picture 12:15 Monday March 21, 2016.

    Image from 12:00 Hours on Monday.

    A few Sz 1 Ssls in the am. The weather went from bluebird to obscured many times during the day.

    Blue one minute.

    Snowing within 5 minutes.

    There was some nice deep snow on specific aspects.

   Inukshuk back into a seasonal outfit.

    Lots of cornice debris around, careful in the flat light and when it gets buried.