January 26, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An ice climber is presumed dead after an avalanche in the Dolomites, Italy. Story below. Net Pic

    Avalanche control produced a size 3 in West Bowl,  Monday's is closed . 2.5 meter drop at the top.

    Late November crust or Early December crust??

    There is debris in West Bowl down to the road. Avalanche control produced Sz 1-3.5 Thursday.

    Yesterday, evidence of natural avalanches up to Sz 3 were observed in the Sea to Sky Corridor.


    YESTERDAY:

    Some very light flurries on Thursday morning.

    Unsettled in the morning.

    More cloud as the day progressed.

    There were some good turns to be had!!

    First at the top.

   Awesome light early in the day.

    Overcast in the afternoon with some light snow.

    Snowing harder just after dusk, sunset was at 16:53 on Thursday.


Weather Observations for January 26, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -9, Winds were 30-45 KPH SE --Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -9, Winds were 15-40 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1660 meters     -7, 15 cm of new, 18 cm in 24 hrs  Base 295 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters     -2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.6, 3.4 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies, limited visibility and it is snowing lightly.



FORECAST:

A cool and unstable airmass will bring mostly overcast skies and periods of light snowfall in a Westerly flow aloft. Looks like some breaks this am.  The freezing level will remain below surface. A low will push onto the coast for Saturday with light snowfall and a rising freezing level. Saturday, the FL should max out at 1000 meters dropping back to the surface Saturday night. A strong warm front will be here by Sunday, stalling over the area, exiting on Monday.  This is considered an atmospheric river event with the FL rising to 1800 meters by Sunday night. The freezing level will slowly drop back down to 900 meters by Monday evening. A northwest flow aloft on Tuesday with a building ridge will bring unsettled weather for most of next week.
Guesstimates: 10-20 cm by Saturday morning, 10-20 cm by Sunday morning, 20-40 cm by Monday morning above 1700 meters, 30-45 cm by Tuesday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

      Cooler unsettled day.

    Flurries for today.

    Fronts on the coast.

    Change on Saturday, its going to warm up!

    Atmospheric river for Sunday.



    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Sluffing in the morning on steep slopes.

    Some wind effect but mostly nice turns to be had!!

    New snow--soft slabs!!

   Tres fragile!!

    Natures sculpting.

    How much snow can the trees hold?

    Great conditions all day long!!!

    Rough day at the office!!

    Interesting shot from Doug Tuck.

                    Light snow yesterday.                                                               JB Image



Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Report:

Oboe


VIDEO FRIDAY:

Avalanches in Zermatt: Switzerland

Touchy Conditions: Colorado

Avalanche Footage: Europe

Locals interviewed about avalanches: Shaw TV

Boarder has to dig his friend out: Ponoka News


ARTICLES:

Ice climber presumed dead after an avalanche in the Dolomites: Italy

Weekend storm forecast promts avalanche warning from Avalanche Canada: CBC News

Cloud seeding for snow!-Does it work: Science Daily

Skier caught in avalanche on Pointy Peak in Park City: Utah

Can computers forecast avalanches better than humans digging holes: ScienceLine

Search for missing snowboarder suspended: Mount Baker