December 18, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Locally-- limited Sz 1 avalanches,  storm slabs running on the 17-12-15 crust.

    An avalanche in France has killed a skier. Story in article section.                                     Net Pic



    YESTERDAY:

    Snowed most of the day, 0 degrees briefly at 1550 meters yesterday at 19:30 Hrs.

    Nice to see the snow accumulating in the trees.

    Light snow with enough visibility for jumping.

    Snowing at days end to the valley. Max temp in the valley yesterday was +1.2.


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

2180 meters      -7, Winds were 35-40 KPH SW--Whistler Peak
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 25-35 KPH SW--Roundhouse
1660 meters      -3, 9 cm of new, 12 cm in 24 hrs  Base 148 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +1.2, 8.4 mm of precip recorded yest

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

FORECAST:

Unsettled this morning before a weak front pushes on shore in a Westerly flow aloft. An impulse tonight will bring moderate snowfall to the area. The FL will fluctuate from 900 meters to 500 meters by tonight. A deepening low and associated cold front will push through on Tuesday with moderate snowfall and strong winds throughout the day. Unfortunately the  majority of the snow will fall South of Whistler, but we will receive enough to improve the conditions. Cool and dry weather will follow on Wednesday into the weekend as the high reestablishes itself. Freezing level will be below surface from Tuesday into Saturday.

Guesstimates: 8-12 cm by Tuesday morning, 15-20 cm by Wednesday morning.

    GOES IR image this am.

    Westerly flow with cool temperatures. Warm high is still lingering.

    Deepening low over us on Tuesday, will likely sink Southeast.



    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Need a lot of snow to reach last seasons snow pack level.

    New snow has helped improve the surface quality.

    Mother Nature's art.

    Wind affect on a snow drift.

    3 very close Yellow Cedars.

    Yesterday afternoon.

FROM South Coast Touring:

Evan Stevens December 17 at 7:01pm

Conditions update from sea to sky gondola country. 15 cm of new snow from 900m to 1500m with minimal wind. No slab yet so just sluffing of new snow in steep terrain. Freezing level was flip flopping around 800-1000m at 4pm and snowing hard. As of today you really needed smooth, open terrain to have enjoyable skiing. The trees from 1200m-1400m lost a ton of snow last week and the trees were blocking all of the new snow and are skiing terribly. Anything below 1100/1200m is not recommended in these parts other than logging roads and trails.

ARTICLES:

An avalanche has killed a 49 year old skier near LeLioran ski resort: France

How to get out of the deep snow with your ski poles: G3 University

Body of 1 soldier missing in avalanche recovered: Kashmir

Basic Avalanche Education you should know before hitting the backcountry: Bozeman, Mont.