March 25, 2016

    Two climbers found in Avalanche Debris after missing 5 weeks ago: Story below:       Net Pic

    A cat skiing guide has been killed by an avalanche in the Pacific Northwest. Story below Net Pic

    Snow line Thursday March 24, 2016--below 1000 meters.

    Nasty Maratime moist warm air mass in our zone.

    A wee dusting on a hard crust.

    Breaks in the morning and afternoon.

    More snow mid mountain than in the Alpine.

     Snow sticking to the burnt trees in the Crystal Zone.

    Drying out near the end of the day.


Weather Observations for March 25, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -8, Winds were 10-20 KPH W  --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters     -7, Winds were   5-15 KPH W  --Whistler Peak 
1860 meters     -7, Winds were   0-5   KPH NE --Rendevous
1835 meters     -6, Winds were   0-5   KPH SW --Roundhouse 
1650 meters     -3, 1 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 332 cm Base, RH 92%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters     -4, 1 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 248 cm Base, RH 98%  --Catskinner

  660 meters    +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.5. 3.2 mm of Precip recorded yest

   As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have clear skies above 1650 meters and unlimited visibility.


For the forecast, an upper ridge will bring mostly sunny skies to the area this morning above the valley cloud layer with the upper level flow switching from a Westerly flow to a Northerly flow aloft. With the amount of low cloud and  moisture around we will likely see the stratus layer lift with some convective cloud development later in the day. The FL will fluctuate from 1000-1500 meters for today. The ridge will continue into Saturday morning then slowly be pushed out by a weak front on Saturday afternoon/evening with the FL varying from  1300-1600 meters. An upper trough will push through on Sunday with cool and showery conditions into Monday morning. High pressure will build Monday, strengthening Tuesday and continuing into Friday with a warming trend through the week, FL could reach 3000+ meters by Wednesday. Guesstimates: 8-12 cm for Sunday morning, 1-3 cm for Monday morning.

    High pressure for today.

    Front moves into the area later on Saturday.

   Trough moves through on Sunday exiting by Monday.

    High pressure begins to build Monday.

    Blocking pattern until at least Friday.



VIDEO FRIDAYS:

Avalanche Safety video from Alaska: Avalanche Centre

Avalanche at Black Prince: Alberta

Avalanche Hunters: Norway

Wolverine to the rescue: Avalanche Rescue

Measuring snow at Pig Alley: March 22, 2016

Beacon Searching Drones: Robodrone


ARTICLES:

Mt Bailey Cat Ski lead guide has died in an avalanche: Oregon

Climbers on Ben Nevis found under avalanche debris after gone missing 5 weeks ago: Scotland

An avalanche in Northern India has killed one soldier, one missing:Ladakh

How to best survive avalanches: ResearchGate

Special Public Avalanche Bulletin for Easter Long Weekend: Avalanche Canada

    Early Thursday morning.

    Big picture yesterday 11:45.

    Still lots of cloud out in the Pacific yesterday afternoon.

    There were areas where the snow had blown in.

    Mid mountain trees where laden with snow.

  

    Cornice underneath Crystal Chair looks ready to fall.

    Visibility in the past week has been challenging at times.