May 19, 2016

    Overcast for most of the day, Wednesday May 18, 2016.

    Expressway on the way to Seventh Heaven Chair Lift.

    There were some dark clouds but no showers during the late morning/afternoon.

    Cloud layer did drop below the top elevation from time to time.

   Large Glide Crack skiers right lower Pakalolo.

    There was a bit of convective activity.

    Fairly dark at closing time.

    Looking into the valley it started raining there at around 18:00 Hours. 4.9 mm recorded up to 24:00



Weather Observations for May 19, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -2, Winds were 10-15 KPH SSE--Horstman Hut
1860 meters     -1, Winds were 10-20 KPH S     --Rendevous
1550 meters    +1, Trace of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 124 cm Base, RH 100%--Catskinner

  660 meters    +7, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +15.5. 4.9 mm of Precip recorded yest

6 mm recorded at Catskinner, likely wet snow there. Will update once numbers become available.

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we obscured skies, limited visibility and it is snowing lightly.

    Obscured and snowing at 2180 meters.

   Snow in the alpine down to a least 1500 meters!!




For the forecast, the cool low pressure system moving in from the Gulf of Alaska has slowed and weakened over our zone. Today will likely be the wettest of the next few days with the FL rising and hovering in the 2000 meter range. The weather for Friday into Saturday will be dependant on how much cloud and precipitation the low will spin at us once it settles in to the South. For now it looks unsettled, with partly to mostly cloudy periods with the chance of light intermittent showers. The air mass for Sunday is looking quite moist, especially in the morning, lets say Sunday could be a moist day with breaks later in the afternoon. The low will continue to bring cool showery weather into early next week, models are not in agreement to what is happening past Sunday. Standby for an update Friday.

    Low is slowly drifting South.

    Certainly some precipitation heading our way, but it feels like the system is weakening.

    Flow for Thursday.

    Expected precipitation for today into tomorrow. Breaks Friday afternoon.

    Looking mostly cloudy for Friday with some sunny breaks.

    Another decent unsettled day for Saturday as well. Rain possible in the evening.

    Looking towards Sunday!

    Breaks on Monday morning with showers slated for the afternoon.



ARTICLES:

New Data on Variability of Earth's Reflectance over the past 16 years: Science Daily

Grizzlies and Glaciers: Backcountry Skiing Blog

Climbing Skin Science-2016: Backcountry Skiing Blog

Early snow melt means rising rivers: Montana

    07:30 Hours Wednesday May 18, 2016.

    16:00 Hours Wednesday. Most of the moisture went South. Are we in a draught?

    Big picture Wednesday afternoon.

     Lots of foot passengers.

    Both sides of the Horstman Creek were pumping Wednesday.

    Double down loading, 17:00 Hrs.