May 10, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

   An avalanche near Bonneval sur Arc, France has claimed three ski tourers. Story below.     Net Pic

   An avalanche has claimed a ski tourer near Col des Houerts, FR. Story in article section. Net Pic

    Looking down into the Lakeside Avalanche debris from last Thursday. No new avalanche activity.

    YESTERDAY:

    Broken cloud Tuesday morning May 9, 2017.

    Sunny early in the morning.

    Some cloud development in the morning.

    Cloud thickened as the morning progressed to noon.

    Early Tuesday morning.

    Mostly overcast.

    Big Picture Tuesday afternoon.

    At sweep the clouds began to descend to the local peaks.

    Looking into the valley.


Weather Observations for May 10, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -1, Winds were 10-20 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
1860 meters     +1, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE--Rendevous
1550 meters     +2, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 225 cm Base, RH 80%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +5, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +16.6, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

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


FORECAST:

An upper low will bring increasing clouds to the area this morning in a Southwest flow aloft. The air mass that is approaching is moist with the FL reaching 2600 + meters with day time heating. Rain showers will begin this afternoon with a good chance of some moderate/heavy rain by this evening into Thursday morning. The FL will slowly dip on Thursday from 2200 meters to 1400 meters by Thursday night. Rain will slowly turn to snow in the alpine so we may get as much as 8-12 cm at 1550 meters by Friday morning. The low continues down the coast bringing cool showery weather to our zone for Friday. We can expect more snow in the alpine with the FL fluctuating from 1700 to 1200 meters. An upper trough will move onto the coast on Saturday with the chance of some showers and a slight chance of some thunder and lightning. Another low out of the Gulf of Alaska is heading our way for Sunday into early next week with cool showery weather.
Guesstimates: Depending on the flow we could see 10-20 mm of rain by Thursday morning, Thursday is looking wet with anywhere between 20-30 mm before the FL allows 8-12 cm to fall at 1550 meters by Friday morning, 8-12 cm by Saturday morning above 1600 meters.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Unsettled this am with a mix of sun & cloud

    Low will send a frontal band into the area later today.

    Large low to the Northwest.

    Low migrates closer to the coast.

    Significant precipitation could reach us by Thursday.

   Cooler Friday with light snow expected above 1500 meters.

    Low remains off the coast on Friday.



    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Stock piling snow to keep the ski out going!!

    Stauchwall and fracture line in the trees.

    New jump in 7 Th Heaven.

    Large debris chunks in Lakeside slide.

    Upper fracture line in the Lakeside slide.


ARTICLES:

Four dead in two avalanches in France: Pistehors.com

Navigating Avalanche Terrain: Fat Pencil Studio

Avalanche risk persists in the Rockies as snow pack melts & shifts: Yahoo News

Short winter marked by little snow & few avalanche victims: Switzerland

Hurley Spring Update: I Survived the Hurley