March 13, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    French skier killed in an avalanche on Mount Mamai, Russia--Story in articles below--Net Pic

   16 Year Old skier killed in off piste avalanche in Austria. Story below.                          Net Pic

    Locally, avalanche control produced some ssl Sz 1-2 Xc, Xl, Xe, Sc. Cornice failure from guest.




YESTERDAY:

    Snowline was at 1100 meters on Sunday morning, March 12, 2016.

    Valley cloud layer was moist and thick.

    Another moist layer at 2200 meters.

    Sunday morning.

    Visibility was not great but manageable.

    Sunday afternoon.

    Upper cloud layer was quite thin.

    Snow was nice at treeline.

    Raining in the valley at days end.

    Roundhouse, light snowfall later in the day.


Weather Observations for March 13, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -3, Winds were 10-25 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -2, Winds were 40-55 KPH S  --Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -1, Winds were 25-40 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -1, Winds were 20-40 KPH SE --Roundhouse
1650 meters       0, 9 cm of new snow, 9 cm in 24 hrs, 308 cm Base, RH 94%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -1, 7 cm of new snow, 7 cm in 24 hrs, 224 cm Base, RH 97 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters       0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +4.8, 3.2 mm of Precip recorded yest

   As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility and it is snowing 2 cm per hour.



FORECAST:

A moist cold front will bring warmer temperatures and light snow showers to the area today in a mild Southwest flow aloft. Models have been inconsistent lately and there has certainly been fast changes in the pattern. The FL will spike just below 1800 meters and there will be little change through out the day. An upper level trough will move through on Tuesday with light precipitation and a Fl spiking at around 2000 meters by the evening.  Another cold front arrives for Wednesday with heavy snowfall, strong winds and the FL dropping from 1800 meters in the morning to 800 meters by days end. A weaker frontal band arrives Thursday with light/moderate snowfall and the FL hovering in the 800 meter range. More snow for Friday as well. Guesstimates: 4-8 cm by Tuesday morning, 10-30 cm above 1800 meters by Wednesday morning, 15-20 cm by Thursday morning.

    GOES IR image for this am.

    Big low in the Gulf of Alaska.

    Cold front for today with light precipitation.

   Warmest day of the week, FL could reach 2000 meters by the evening.

    Heavy snowfall, strong winds for Wednesday--storm day.

   The winter that keeps on giving, light/moderate snowfall Thursday with the FL hovering at 800 meters.

   Juicy Friday into Saturday as well. FL around 1200 meters.

INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    There was some wind Saturday night.

   Skinning up lower Disease Ridge.

   Conditions were quite nice on Sunday.

   The Wizard Chair Sunday afternoon.

   Snowing lightly with unlimited visibility.




ARTICLES:

French skier killed in an avalanche on Mount Mamai, Burgatia: Russia

16 year old skier dies after off pist avalanche near Turracher: Austria

Sea to Sky Avalanche problems: March 13-15, 2017

What a violent avalanche says about risk in the backcountry: Unlikely Survivors

Another avalanche blocks the Dalton Hwy: Alaska

The deadliest place for snowmobilers: Cooke City, Montana

Conditions Report-Coast-March 8, 2017: Mountain Sledder