February 5, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Death toll reaches 54 after avalanches bury houses in Afghanistan, story in article section.  Net Pic

    Avalanche control yesterday produced mostly Sz 1 with some Sz 2 very soft slab avalanches.
    Many natural Sz 1 observed, Sa (skier accidental) by guest Sz 1.5. Xe, Xl, Sc, Xr, Sa.

   Ski cut N face Rainbow. 1900m. storm slab ran fast on crust. 04-02-17  Toby Salin Pic

    YESTERDAY:

    Pleasant surprise Saturday morning, February 4, 2017.

    Windy and snowy Saturday morning.

    Multiple layers of cloud.

    Saturday am.

    Low level cloud moved in from the North.

    Competition on Blackcomb Saturday.

    Not looking quite right.

    Awesome conditions on Saturday.

   A break in the snow fall near days end, then it ramped back up again in the evening.


Weather Observations for February 5, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -12, Winds were 25-35 KPH S      --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters    -12, Winds were 25-45 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1860 meters    -11, Winds were 15-20 KPH SSE  --Rendevous
1835 meters    -10, Winds were 10-25 KPH SE    --Roundhouse
1650 meters    -13, 25 cm of new snow, 36 cm in 24 hrs, 260 cm Base, RH 88%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    -13, 25 cm of new snow, 35 cm in 24 hrs, 187 cm Base, RH 91%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters      -8, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -5.1, 8.7 mm of Precip recorded yest

   As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud, imited visibility and it is snowing less than 1 cm/hr.

FORECAST:

A cold upper level low will bring a cool moist Southwest flow aloft today with some unsettled conditions by this afternoon. The low will bring overcast conditions to the area Monday through Wednesday with light snowfall and cold temperatures. A warm front is forecasted to arrive on Wednesday night with warmer temperatures and some  descent precipitation amounts for Thursday into Friday. The FL could reach 1500 meters but more on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 2-6 cm by Monday morning, 4-6 cm by Tuesday morning, 4-8 cm by Wednesday morning, 5-10 cm by Thursday morning, 30-40 cm by Friday morning.

    Most of the precipitation passed through last night and early this am. Unsettled today.

    Low will continue to dominate the weather.

    Low brought 35 cm of low density snow over the past 24 hours. Measured at 1650 meters.

    A break Sunday with more weather coming Monday into next week.

    Low will circulate around until Monday. 
  OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

Mike Jones February 4 at 1:00pm
Touchy storm slabs on Seymour yesterday Saw a few size 1s, including the two below, both skier-triggered (probably patrol). The first is on a south-facing aspect on the north side of Suicide gully, about a 15cm crown, visible from the main snowshoe trail. The second is a NW-facing slope below Mystery Peak, it slid onto the Manning cat track. Probably 20-25cm crown.

John Gill February 4 at 6:02pm

Touchy storm snow up at Paul Ridge yesterday. Saw some natural size 1 storm slabs on NW slopes (30cm deep crown line). Full info in link below. Paul Ridge Powder Day Simon Warhurst February 3 at 6:39am Update on access in VanHorlick for the weekend. Unfortunately the road will be closed at the 8km over this weekend, starting at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. Fallers will be dropping trees onto and across the road. Sorry for the short notice. Simon Warhurst, RFT Interwest Timber Ltd 250 256-7782

    Slab avalanche on one of the features in the terrain park!

    Snowed in the valley most of the morning, 10 cm recorded at 1550 meters by 14:00 hrs Saturday.

    Snow creep.

    Light snow accumulating on the trees.



ARTICLES:

54 killed by avalanches after heavy snow: Afghanistan

14 killed in Chitral Avalanches: Pakistan

German skier killed in an avalanche near Lech am Arlberg: Austria

Border guard killed in a road avalanche: Kyrgyzstan

Ski Mountaineer seriously injured in an avalanche near Sella Neva: Italy

Three injured following avalanche on Ben Nevis: Scotland