March 25, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Avalanche control yesterday morning produced Sz 1-2 Xe Sc Sr 4F ssl.

    Cornice control yesterday in Blackcomb Bowl.

    Lots of debris in most of the bowls.

    Use caution in the bowls when there is bad visibility.

YESTERDAY:

    Snow line to the valley Friday March 24, 2017.

    Mid mountain cloud layer in the am.

    Awesome morning in the alpine.

    Purple Haze was skiing well.

    Just enough snow to make a difference.

    Friday morning, the jet stream was not nice to us.

    Looking Southwest in the am.

    Looking Northwest in the same time period.

    Big picture yesterday afternoon.

    Eventually the clouds rolled in.

   Tress were the place to be.

    Snowing and blowing at days end.


Weather Observations for March 25, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -4, Winds were 20-50 KPH SSW--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -6, Winds were 40-65 KPH S      --Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -5, Winds were 20-40 KPH S      --Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 25-55 KPH SW   --Roundhouse
1650 meters      -3, 9 cm of new snow, 11 cm in 24 hrs, 332 cm Base, RH 88%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -3, 8 cm of new snow,   8 cm in 24 hrs, 244 cm Base, RH 93 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.5, 3.1 mm of Precip recorded yest

   As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud and unlimited visibilty.


FORECAST:

An upper level trough with convective activity is passing through the area in a Southwesterly flow aloft. The flow will switch to Westerly with a weak high pressure building, with unsettled conditions for this afternoon into early Sunday morning. The FL will hover in the 1000 meter range dropping to surface by this evening.  A weak cold front moves through Sunday afternoon with light precipitation and the Fl ranging from 1000 meters to 1200 meters.. A weak warm front will move through on Monday with a FL rising to around 1400 meters. A series of low pressure systems will push through Southern BC all next week with moist warm weather.
Guesstimates: trace-2 cm by Sunday morning, 8-12 cm by Monday morning, 10-15 cm by Tuesday morning.

    GOES IR image this am.

   Overcast this morning, clearing by the afternoon.

   Flow for today.

    Unsettled Sunday morning as a weak high pressure aloft pushes through.

    Another Frontal band by Sunday Afternoon

    Monday into Tuesday

   Tuesday into Wednesday.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Cornices are getting very large.

   Some wind affect yesterday morning.

   Steeps were fun.

    Started becoming reactive yesterday afternoon with the new wind transported snow.


ARTICLES:

Cornices--Don't walk the line: NWAC

BC man tells harrowing tale of avalanche survival: Global News

Conditions Report-Coast Mountains March 22, 2017: Mountain Sledder

Always an interesting read-Northwest Avalanche Accident Summary: NWAC

In Canada, An Avalanche Risk Management Career starts with CAA Operations 1: Backcountry Education