March 23, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Locally, Sc Sz 1 10-30 cm soft slabs, several Sa Sz 1 on steep lee terrain, yesterday.


    YESTERDAY:

    Snow line was at 1300 meters Wednesday March 22, 2017.

    Visibility was challenging at times.

    Another warm moist day in the valley.

    Snowing at 1860 meters Wednesday morning.

    Wednesday morning, snowing 2 cm per hr, at 09:15 Hrs.

    A brief break in the morning.

    Snowed most of the day.

    Big picture at 15:30 Hrs, looks like some recirculation!!

    Cloud cover was producing, but thin at times.

    Snowing at 1000 meters yesterday--17:00 hours .



Weather Observations for March 23, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -5, Winds were 25-50 KPH S--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 35-55 KPH S--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -6, Winds were 25-35 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 15-40 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -4, 20 cm of new snow, 25 in 24 hrs, 324 cm Base, RH 89%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -4, 12 cm of new snow, 18 in 24 hrs, 240 cm Base, RH 94 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.3, 8.9 mm of Precip recorded yest

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


FORECAST:

We can expect a mostly overcast morning before the next frontal band moves into the area later today in a Southwesterly flow aloft. We should see some light precipitation in the morning, drying for this afternoon and intensifying by this evening with the FL hovering around 1200 meters by this afternoon. An upper trough will move into our zone for Friday with more precipitation and a FL rising to 1400 meters. Saturday is looking mostly cloudy as well with some breaks expected in the evening, we should see a drier air mass. Sunday at this time is looking unsettled but conflicting models do not instill much confidence in the forecast beyond Saturday. It does look like a series of weather systems are on the way for next week.
Guesstimates: 10-15 cm by Friday morning, 15-20 cm by Saturday morning, 4-6 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Next frontal band will arrive later today.

   Overcast this am with more snow on the way.

More precipitation on Friday.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

Simon Warhurst March 22 at 9:06pm

Re Van Horlick access. We finished loading and hauling on Tuesday, so there will be no more maintenance on the road until the summer. Please plan your access accordingly. Thanks to most people for the cooperation in sharing the road. My apologies to some people who've sent me personal facebook messages over the last month- I'm not good at this medium so haven't realized the messages are there. Hope you have a great spring ski season. Channel Crk was fabulous on Sunday.

    Out of Bounds avalanche in Blackcomb Glacier Sunday Pm. Click for CTV NEWS Story        Net Pic

   Catskinner weather plot, 1550 meters-8 cm from 06:00-14:00 Hrs.

    235 cm as of 14:00 Hrs March 22, 2017 at 1550 meters.

    Moist snow at Catskinner Weather Plot.

    Snowing in the trees.


ARTICLES:

Fernie athlete experiences skiers worst nightmare-Sz 3: Golden, B.C.

Low Probability, High Consequences: Avalanche Canada

Footage from Corona Avalanche Incident: Twitter

Three men struck by an avalanche in West Fjords: Iceland

Avalanche closes Casper Bowl on Sunday: Jackson Hole

A veteran snow maker on the future of skiing: Powder