January 19, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche has hit a hotel with at least 30 people missing in Italy, story in articles below. Net Pic

    Avalanche control produced Sz 1-2 with Xe and Sc up to 70 cm deep yesterday. Sa reported as well

    Snow in the trees below 1000 meters. Early Wednesday morning, January 18, 2017.

    Packin the Pow.

    Large drift at Horstman Hut Wednesday morning.

   There were a  few breaks in the snow fall yesterday.

    Wednesday morning

    Front moving through quickly. Wednesday Afternoon.

    At sweep it was still snowing below 1000 meters.


Weather Observations for January 19, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters   -5, Winds were 35-45 KPH S   --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters   -5, Winds were 30-50 KPH S   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   -3, Winds were 20-35 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters   -3, Winds were 15-25 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters   -2,  23 cm of new snow, 37 cm in 24 hrs, 240 cm Base, RH 98%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters   -2,  23 cm of new snow, 36 cm in 24 hrs, 140 cm Base, RH 98%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters    0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.1, 12.3 mm of Precip recorded yest

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


FORECAST:

A broad upper level trough will bring light/moderate snow to the area today in a Southwest flow aloft. The FL should hover around 1100 meters with moderate alpine winds. Friday at this time is looking unsettled with some isolated flurries and the Fl fluctuating between 600-1000 meters. Saturday and Sunday will be overcast with some periodic light snow and the FL ranging from 1000 meters on Saturday to as low as surface on Sunday. A ridge builds for early next week with dry unsettled weather for Monday with sunny skies forecasted for Tuesday.
Guesstimates: 15-25 cm by Friday morning, 1-3 cm by Saturday morning, 3-5 cm by Sunday morning, 4-8 cm by Monday morning.

   GOES IR image for this am.

    Flow for today.

    Impulses of light/moderate snow again for today.

    Unsettled Friday, with a couple of weak frontal bands for Saturday and Sunday.

    Not much in the way of snowfall for the weekend.

    A series of lows developing off the coast.

    Dries out Monday into Tuesday.





             OBSERVATIONS:

             CBC Trees    From Toby Salin

               Lots of this action in the trees. pretty slow moving but could mess somebody up into a tree well.

    Lots of snow at 1860 meters.

   A lull in the storm Wednesday afternoon.

    Amazing what the wind can create.

   Lots of great skiing yesterday.

   Snowed snow gun.

ARTICLES:

An avalanche has buried a hotel with at least 30 people missing: Italy

Many people found dead in Italian hotel hit by quake induced avalanche: Farindola, Italy

What role should airbags play in Avalanche Safety: Whistler Question

Avalanche Awareness Days on Blackcomb: January 21-22, 2017

Avalanche Assessments from around the U.S. Week of January 15, 2017