March 21, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Old natural avalanche activity.

    Some point releases from Saturday. Locally some Sz 1 Sa ssl. No avalanche control yesterday.


    YESTERDAY:

    Very early Monday morning march 20, 2017.

    Cool light in Pemberton.

    Just after opening.

    Monday morning.

    Steep terrain.

    Big air off a serac.

    Big picture Monday afternoon.

    Got milky just after noon yesterday.

    High overcast over Whistler.

Weather Observations for March 21, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -2, Winds were 25-40 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -2, Winds were 30-45 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -2, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 10-20 KPH NE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -3, trace of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 308 cm Base, RH 82%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -3, trace of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 230 cm Base, RH 78 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +7.3, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

FORECAST:

A weak warm low will be pushing mostly overcast skies into the area today in a Southwesterly flow aloft. We will likely see some very light snowfall in the upper elevations, the FL is expected to go to 1600+ meters today-dropping to 1200 meters tonight. A slightly stronger front arrives tonight/ Wednesday with light/moderate snowfall above 1200 meters with the FL hovering in the 1400 meter range dropping to the surface by Wednesday night. As eries of frontal bands of various intensity are expected into the weekend. Should see a change Saturday with nicer weather for Sunday.
Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Wednesday morning, 10-20 cm by Thursday morning, 10-15 cm by Friday morning.

   As of 07:00 Hrs we have overcast skies, variable visibility and snowing lightly.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Low off the coast will be the weather producer for a few days.

    Weak front for today with the chance of some unsettled weather this evening.

    Slightly stronger front for Wednesday.



OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Early morning high scattered cloud.

    A cool looking cornice.

    Slope Test. No result.

    Snow was not as reactive yesterday.

    Old larger avalanche in the Joffre area.                                                              Holly Walker Image



ARTICLES:

March 2017 Low Probability-High Consequences Avalanche cycle: Avalanche Canada

Swiss Mountain guide investigated over deadly Austrian Avalanche: Innsbruck

Missing Dutch snow boarder found dead two weeks after avalanche: French Alps

Avalanche at WB caused by out of bounds skiers: CTV News

Video and Photo Challenge: Mountain Sledder

Housing in avalanche terrain a concern: Arctic Journal