February 4, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche has killed two people on Campo Felice, Italy. Story in article section.             Net Pic

    Locally, AC produced a few Sz 1-1.5 with Xe Xc. Cornice drops.

    Old fracture line on ID Low.

    Cornice control continues, watch for debris in the bowls.


     YESTERDAY:

    Breaks in the morning.

    Flute.

    Limited visibility at the top yesterday.

    Park was busy!!

    Valley cloud layer was thick, upper elevations also had a thick layer at times. Mid mountain best!!

    Nice light below tree line.

    Warm front eventually moved in with some light precipitation.

    Saturday afternoon.

    Big picture Saturday afternoon.


Weather Observations for February 4, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -1, Winds were 50-70 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1835 meters    +2, Winds were 25-50 KPH SSW--Roundhouse
1660 meters    +1, 3 cm of new, 3 cm in 24 hrs  Base 303 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +4.9, 4.6 mm of precip recorded yest

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

FORECAST:

A warm front is moving East through the area in a strong Northwest flow aloft. Today we can expect wet, warm, and windy conditions with the freezing level slowly dropping to 1500 meters. Monday looks overcast in the morning with unsettled weather forecasted for the afternoon and evening. Looks to be warmish and dry with the FL dropping to 1000 meters by the evening. Weak warm frontal bands will persist into next weekend.
Guesstimates: 4-8 cm by Monday morning, trace-1 cm by Tuesday morning, 2-4 cm by Wednesday morning, 4-8 cm by Thursday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    High is winning the battle, hopefully the arctic front will cool things down!!

    Warm front pushing through this am.

    Cooler temperatures, hopefully as the day progresses.

    Fronts on the coast.

    Arctic front may not get close enough to make a difference.



    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Some nice breaks in the morning.

    Thick rime at 2240 meters.

    Avalanche practise on the Size 3 debris in Lakeside.

    Fresh cornice development.

    +1 Deg C at 1550 meters on Saturday. No new precip as of 14:00 Hrs with a base of 236 cm.

    Looking for seeds on a wind scoured slope.

    Some areas get regularly scoured.

   Come out and support this worthy cause.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Sky Pilot Area

Mt Chief Pascal Slide


ARTICLES:

Two people have been killed by an avalanche in Campo Felice: Italy

Sustained snowfall creates extreme avalanche risk in Interior B.C.: Avalanche Canada

Obsesses with Backcountry Skiing: Jerry Painter

Avalanche Awareness Workshop: Washington State

Avalanche Bulletin: Glacier National Park