January 29, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche on Mount Ara, in Armenia has killed a mountaineer. Story in article section. Net Pic

    Locally, Sz 1-1.5 soft slabs Xe Sc with AC. Touchy soft slabs Sc Sz 1.5 in the afternoon. 30-50 cm.


   YESTERDAY:

    Snowing 3 cm per hour Sunday morning.

    Early opening then the winds ramped up!!

    Storm skiing!!!

    Great turns in the alpine when you could get them.

    Eventually the winds and snow loading shut the alpine down.

    Nester's weather station Sunday at 18:30 hrs, still dumping..

    Big load on the roof!!

    Sunday afternoon, dumping in Whistler!

    Yes, that is an atmospheric river!!!!


Weather Observations for January 29, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -2, Winds were 100-135 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -1, Winds were    20-60 KPH SE --Roundhouse
1660 meters    +1, 26 cm of new, 45 cm in 24 hrs  Base 326 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +0.5, ? mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility , and it is snowing 3 cm per hr

FORECAST:

An active front will slowly migrate Southeastward today in a strong Southwest flow aloft. The freezing level will slowly begin to drop down to 800 meters by tonight and was at 1700 meters early this am. Winds have been strong with 100-128 KPH from the SE at 05:00 Hrs this am. A trailing cold front will push through this afternoon/evening with cooler temperatures. Tuesday, a Westerly flow aloft will bring a cool showery pattern with the FL  hovering in the 700 meter range. Overcast skies with light snowfall, unsettled by Tuesday night. Wednesday could be a mixed bag, with unsettled weather in the morning, overcast and light snow pushing in for the afternoon. As of now looks like another warm front for Thursday, more on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 25-40 cm by Tuesday morning above 1700 meters, 10-15 cm by Wednesday morning, 5-15 cm by Thursday morning.

   GOES IR image this am.

    Low and high merging for a warm, wet, and windy day.

    Monday morning.

    Later today.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Looking like a nice winter day for Tuesday after the deluge!!


    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Soft slabs in the morning, bigger as the day went on.

    Snow became clumpier as the day progressed mid mountain.

    Great skiing in the morning.

    Warm mid mountain, +0.5 Deg C at 1650 meters at 14:00 Hrs yesterday.

    As of 14:00 hrs yest 17 cm at Catskinner weather plot. 241 cm. 19 cm at Pig Alley 314 cm.

    Snowed 3cm per hour from 06:00 to 14:00 Sunday, continued into the evening.

    Nester's weather station, 660 meters Sunday evening. Snowing to the valley.

    GOES IR image at 21:00 Hrs Sunday. Lots of moisture just North of us.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Rports:

Hollyburn Near-Miss

Brohm Ridge


ARTICLES:

An avalanche has killed a mountaineer on Mount Ara in Armenia: Azerbaijan

Ski resorts shut down as rain creates avalanche risk: Wahington State

Schweitzer Ski Patrol controls large avalanche, Thursday: Idaho

Record number of avalanche blasts in Switzerland: Swissinfo