February 18, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche in Kazahkstan has claimed 7 soldiers. Story in article section.                Net Pic

    Old avalanche debris on Prime Rib, Horstman Glacier. Natural cycle during the storm.
    Avalanche control yesterday produced some Sz 1-2 storm slabs with Xe.


   YESTERDAY:

    Whistler early morning, Friday February 17, 2017.

    Multiple cloud layer in the morning.

    Old avalanche debris just before the Goat Path.

    Whistler just before getting tracked out. Some decent snow in the upper elevations.

    Visibility was challenging at times yesterday,

    Cloudier later in the day.


Weather Observations for February 18, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -7, Winds were 20-30 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -6, Winds were 15-20 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -6, Winds were     0-5 KPH S   --Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were   5-15 KPH NE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -5, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 249 cm Base, RH 95%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -3, 0 cm of new snow, 2 cm in 24 hrs, 178 cm Base, RH 82%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.4, 7.2 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies, unlimited visibility, and snowing very lightly.


 FORECAST:

A weak upper through will bring overcast skies today with some periods of light snow in a Southwest flow aloft. A weak low to our South will slowly push into the area with the FL spiking at around 1000 meters dropping to surface this evening. A series of weak frontal bands will bring snow to the area Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  The FL will fluctuate each day with day time warming and dropping to the valley in the evenings. The warmest day will be Monday with a high of 1400 meters.  A weak ridge will bring unsettled weather for Wednesday with a cool dry Northwest flow into Thursday.
Guesstimates:  2-4 cm by Sunday morning, 5-10 cm by Monday morning, 5-10 cm by Tuesday morning, 5-10 cm by Wednesday morning.

    Most of the moisture is South of our zone.

    Low from the South slowly pushes North.

    Another low sends frontal bands our way Sunday.

   Low shifts South on Monday/ Tuesday.



   OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

Lee Lau at Joffre Lakes Provincial Park.

13 hrs · Instagram

Million Dollar Couloir in Cayoosh had cold quadruple blow cold smoke. Glacier must have kept things cold. Perfect for Herschel backpacks and goretex sombreros.

FL was to 1800m in recent storm event. 5 to 8cms overlaying storm layer that varied from firm above 1800m to breakable below.

    Dry snow above 1800 meters.

    Nice light Friday morning.

    Garbanzo Chair

    Low level cloud in the valley.


ARTICLES:

Seven soldiers killed in an avalanche during military training exercise: Kazahkstan

Sharing Snow: Pique

Avalanche warnings issued for Mountain Parks: CTV News

The Spirit of Freeskiing: Powder Canada

Ski Patroller logs more than 50 years at Red Lodge Mountain: Montana

Pro Snowboarders new avalanche safety system wins innovation award: GrindTV