February 3, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    A snowmobiler has been killed in an avalanche near Valemount, B.C. Story below.      Net Pic

    An avalanche has killed 3 soldiers in Kashmir. Story in article section.                            Net Pic

    An avalanche has killed a ski tourer in the Vasges Mtns in France. Story below.                 Net Pic

    Locally, AC  yesterday Sc (ski cuts) produced Sz 1 soft slabs. Corince control (Xc) -Sz 1.5-2.5.


    YESTERDAY:

    Overcast in the morning.

    Some breaks later in the am.

    Snowing in the Callaghan Friday morning.

    Around 12:00 Hrs on Friday.

    Same time line as above image. Occluded front pushed through yesterday.

    Biker gang!!

    Valley at 14:00 Hrs, +2 Deg C.

    There is alot of snow in the Callaghan Valley.

    Visibility was tough in the alpine at times.                                                                           GD Pic

    Friday afternoon.

    Big picture on Friday.



Weather Observations for February 3, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -3, Winds were 35-55 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -1, Winds were 15-30 KPH S      --Roundhouse
1660 meters     -1, 1 cm of new, 9 cm in 24 hrs  Base 306 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters    +3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +3.6, 8.2 mm of precip recorded yest

FORECAST:

A series of warm troughs will continue to push through the area in a Northwesterly flow aloft for the next few days. Today will be mostly overcast but relatively dry with the freezing level hovering in the 1800 meter level. Groundhog day for Sunday with light precipitation and warm temperatures. Monday is looking like a cloudy dry day with the FL slowly dropping from 1400 m to 1100 m by days end. The pattern continues into the week with a series of weak warm frontal bands. Too bad the arcticc front is not able to push the high a bit further Southwest!! Grumblings of sunny weather by the end of the week, that would be nice
Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Sunday morning above 1600 meters, 5-10 cm by Monday morning, trace to 1 cm by Tuesday morning, 2-6 cm by Wednesday morning.

    As of 07:00 hrs this am we have overcast skies and variable visibility.

    Low, High, and Arctic Front are mixing it up. Arcic front is pushing closer.

    A weak warm front for today.

    Warm air from the High will bring the FL up to 1800 meters today.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Warm again on Sunday.


    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Snowing Friday morning.

    Rimed icicles.

    How much snow can a tree support?

    Yes, there is even alot of snow on WB!!

    Duffey Lake Area                                                                                           Jeff Van Driel Image     

Yesterday on the Duffey we had variable and gusty winds with moderate precipitation and warming temperatures producing slightly upside down conditions in the alpine and open areas at treeline. 10-20cm 4F over F+ soft slab conditions. Surface snow turned moist at 1600m and below by this afternoon.

We saw evidence of 2 recent sz 1.5 wind slabs down 20cm on N-NE aspects around 2050m.

After a round of avalanche control on Path 51.0 producing 2 size 3.0's among others on Wednesday morning, we investigated a number of crown lines over the past couple of days. The fracture lines in 51.0 on N-NW aspects 2100-2300m were 80-100cm deep and ran on the January 6 rain crust. We also investigated 3 separate size 2.0 deep releases on Chief Pascal from earlier this week. Crown line depths averaged 120-150cm, max being 190cm, on wind loaded, steep, unsupported features with a snowpack height of 270-310cm. 2 of these avalanches slid on the December 14 facets and one slid on the November 26 crust. Evidence of 3 more deep releases to size 2.0 in immediate area from earlier this week as well.

Cheers

Jeff

                                                                                                                                                               Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                           Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                                            Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                        Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                                                Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                                              Jeff Van Driel Image

                                                                                                                           Jeff Van Driel Image

Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Duffey Area, Jan 27-31

Cayoosh Pass



ARTICLES:

Snowmobiler dies in an avalanche in Clemina Creek: Valemount, B.C.

3 Soldiers Killed, 1 injured in an avalanche in the Machil Sector: Kashmir

An avalanche has killed a ski tourer in the Vasges Mountains: France

A Bow Valley man is lucky to be alive after being buried by a Sz 3 Avalanche: Banff

That Fresh Powder can end in deadly 'Snow Immersion": What you need to Know

Avoid backcountry due to Avalanche Risk: Parks Canada

Avalanche risk high in some elevations this weekend: CTV News

Human Factor only controllable Avalanche Hazard: Bill Jennings