May 18, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Snowballing in the afternoon.

    Snow mushroom off a cliff took out some trees.



   YESTERDAY:

    Wednesday morning May 17, 2017.

    Stratus layer lifted yesterday morning.

    07:30 hrs Wednesday morning. You can see the stratus layer in the surrounding valleys!!

    Convective cloud development.

    Snowballing from Tuesday.

    Nice looking snow in the alpine.

    Cumulus cloud development.

    Bike Park opens on Friday.

    Golf courses are looking green!!

    Stratus layer remained intact South of Whistler for most of the day.

    Snowballing in the afternoon.

   After sunset which was at 20:54, we are gaining 3 minutes of daylight per day!!



Weather Observations for May 18, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -3, Winds were 5-10 KPH NE--Horstman Hut 
1860 meters       0, Winds were   0-5 KPH NW--Rendevous
1550 meters     +2, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 213 cm Base, RH 90%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +7, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +15.1, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hours this am we have overcast skies and variable visibility.

   06:45 Hrs this am.

FORECAST:

A slowly building weak ridge of high pressure will eventually bring warm dry weather to our zone. Low level marine cloud has made its way inland with onshore low level flow and a Northwesterly flow aloft. The FL will rise to 2400+ meters and there is a slight chance of some rain showers this afternoon. Unsettled conditions will prevail into Friday & Saturday with a mix of sun and cloud before the ridge strengthens by Sunday with warmer temperatures and sunny weather.
Guesstimates: trace -1 mm by Friday morning. Trace-2 mm by Saturday morning. The air mass is dry so little chance of any precipitation.

    GOES IR image from this am.

   A weakening low with a degrading front will bring cloudy skies this am.

                  Weak frontal band from a low will bring cloudy unsettled weather for today.

                  Weak ridge continues to build Friday with unsettled weather.

    High continues to move inland on Saturday with unsettled weather improving by the evening.

    Ridge strengthens Sunday into Monday.

    Looks sunny on Tuesday as well!!

    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Cornices are still fragile!!

    Road to the Peak Chair.

    Melt freeze cycle.

    Mount Garibaldi.

                      Clearing avalanche debris on North Cascades Hwy, story below.


ARTICLES:

A Maine school heads out of bounds: Backcountry Magazine

Avalanche debris blocks Crystal Mill Road: Colorado

Roads in Oregon challenging with so much avalanche debris: Missoulian

45 Feet of snow & avalanche debris below Liberty Bell Mountain: North Cascades Hwy Reopens