May 6, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    No new avalanches observed on Blackcomb yesterday.

    Recent controlled avalanche off Mount Hector-Jasper Banff Parkway.               Banff Parks Image.

    View of above avalanche from the Highway.   Controlled on May 4, 2017.      Banff Parks Image


   YESTERDAY:

    Friday morning May 5, 2017. +2 in the alpine and raining.

    Snow in the valley is melting quickly.

    Friday morning.

    Big picture Friday morning.

    Wet snow at around 12:30 Hrs yesterday. +1 at 1860 meters.

    Wet in the village.

    Dried out later in the day, but rain showers last night.

    A few breaks later in the day (17:30 Hrs)

    Looking warm and moist.


Weather Observations for May 6, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -7, Winds were 20-30 KPH S--Horstman Hut 
1860 meters      -5, Winds were 10-15 KPH S--Rendevous
1550 meters      -3, 1 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 232 cm Base, RH 93%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +10.7, 3.3 mm of Precip recorded yest

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

FORECAST:

A weak upper level trough will bring unsettled weather to the area today in a Northwest Flow aloft.
The cold front yesterday brought the FL down to around 1000 meters but it will rise to about 1600 meters with day time heating. We can expect cloudier weather this afternoon before a weak ridge brings back unsettled conditions for this evening. A weak ridge of high pressure will bring mostly sunny skies for Sunday with the FL rising to 2000 meters. A weak frontal band will bring overcast skies and showers for Monday before the ridge rebuilds for Tuesday into Wednesday. The FL will be well above the local peaks. An upper low will bring wet overcast weather back to our zone for Thursday.
Guesstimates: Trace-2 cm by Sunday morning, 0 cm for Monday morning, 1-3 mm of rain by Tuesday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Unsettled today, but expect quite a bit of cloud cover.

   Still some moisture in the immediate area.

   Ridging for tomorrow but there will be some cloudy periods as well.

   Weak high for tomorrow. Should bring unsettled weather into Wednesday.

    Looking down the road, wet by Thursday.

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Tor Hansson Frank May 5 at 7:20pm

Carnage at km 26 on the Lillooet river road two hours ago. We saw some other huge crowns (200m+ wide) further up by Keyhole hot springs where the whole season snowpack slid. Wheel loader for scale.     Km 26 Lillooet River Road                                                           Tor Hansson Frank Pic

    Not much to see at the Hope Slide.

   Will the sun ever come out for more than 2 days??!!

   A few breaks just before sunset last night.



ARTICLES:

A Late Spring=Valley Bottom hazard in May: Avalanche Canada

Backcountry skier injured in Crazy Mountains, Montana: May 4, 2017

Controlled avalanche slides onto highway near Jasper, forces closure: CTV News

Hwy 99 North of Pemberton expected to open today, after an avalanche on Thursday: Pique

Stranded Mount Logan climber rescued: City News