January 11, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche near Mount Jefferson has buried a snowmobiler and he is presumed dead. Net Pic

    An avalanche near the resort of Piau-Englay has killed a ski tourer. Story below.        Net Pic   

    An avalanche near Zermatt.                                                                                                   Net Pic

    Railway dug out near Zermatt, story in article section.                                                    Net Pic

    Locally not much to report, a few Sz 1's with Ski cuts. Reports of Sz 2 Sa in the slackcountry.


    YESTERDAY:

    Broken cloud early Wednesday morning.

    There were some nice patches of blue.

    Valley cloud built in the afternoon.

    Pre frontal clouds.

    Front arrived at around 15:00 Hrs with some isolated flurries.


Weather Observations for January 11, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters    -8, Winds were 15-20 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters    -7, Winds were 10-15 KPH ESE--Roundhouse
1660 meters    -7, 1 cm of new, 1 cm in 24 hrs  Base 186 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters    -6, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +3.2, trace of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs we have overcast skies and variable visibility.


FORECAST:

A weak front is moving through this am in a Westerly flow. Unfortunatley most of the precipitation associated with the front will go South. The freezing level should remain at the surface until Friday. We may see some breaks in the weather tonight with a low moving onshore Friday with overcast skies and very light precipitation. Unsettled Saturday with cloud in the morning and breaks in the afternoon as a weak dirty ridge builds from the south with warm temperatures. The ridge will strengthen Sunday for a mostly sunny day. A more active front is forecasted for Monday into Tuesday.
Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Friday morning, Trace-3 cm by Saturday morning, 1-3 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image this am, just missing us.

    Low pressure heading our way.

    Battle of the Arctic High and Pacific Low.

    Warm Fronts, Cold Fronts along the coast.

    More light precipitation for Friday.



    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Snow conditions were good on Wednesday.

    Good advice!!

    Most creeks are still open and difficult to navigate.

    Another multi cloud layer day.

    Wednesday afternoon.

    Big picture Wednesday, would be nice if those juicy looking clouds track towards us!!!


ARTICLES:

Idaho Falls snowmobiler presumed dead after avalanche: Mount Jefferson

An avalanche has killed a ski tourer in France: PisteHors.com

Skier injured by avalanche on Mount Seymour taken to hospital: CBC News

Elite skiers use dynamite to clear path to stranded skiers: Switzerland

How do ski resorts manage the risk of avalanches?: Euronews

Trains reach tourists stranded in Zermatt: Alp Snowfall