March 20, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche has killed a ski tourer on Chamechaude Peak in France. Story below.       Net Pic

    4 Skiers presumed dead as rescuers continue with rescue efforts. Switzerland. AFP Photo

    Locally, no new avalanches observed.




    YESTERDAY:

    Early Monday morning, unsettled weather became overcast by the afternoon.

    Some clearing to the North on Monday.

    Bands of cloud for most of the day.

    17:30 Hours Monday evening.

    Monday afternoon.

    Big picture Monday afternoon.


Weather Observations for March 20, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -8, Winds were 15-25 KPH SW--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -5, Winds were 10-20 KPH SW --Roundhouse
1660 meters     -3, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 289 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters    +3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.3, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.


FORECAST:

A weak cold front in a Northwesterly flow aloft will reach the coast later this afternoon. Overcast conditions for today with very light snowfall starting later in the day. The freezing level will likely reach 1400 meters by noon with daytime heating. A deep upper low out of the Northwest will push a trough through on Wednesday into Thursday. The FL will remain in the 1500 meter range for Wednesday and drop to almost surface as the trough out of the Bering Sea with its colder airmass gets closer on Thursday into Friday. Depending on the track we could get a significant amount of snow for Thursday into Friday. (20-40 cm possible over the 2 days). More on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 2-4 cm by Wednesday morning, 5-10 cm by Thursday morning, 15-25 cm by Friday morning, 10-15 cm by Saturday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Not much going on today except for clouds.

    Overcast with some flurries later in the day.

    Cold front approaches our zone later in the day.

    Fronts along the Coast.

    Stalled cold front moves through Wednesday.

    Not much snow until Wednesday night.

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Cornice debris in most bowls.

    Cool rock below Hanging Roll.

    Limited visibility in the alpine Monday afternoon.

    Winter snowpack.

    Lots of warning signs out on Monday.

    Band of cloud through our zone yesterday at 17:30 Hrs.

Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Report:

Matier Glacier

From South Coast Touring:

Isabel Budke March 19 at 9:04pm

Superb conditions on Spearhead yesterday--it doesn't get any better! Moderate avi conditions, deep winter pack, fast and fluffy snow, (mostly) clear sunny skies, but air temps stayed cool. Thus my decision to go all the way around after touring to Trorey--Decker col with friends. I only passed 3 parties on the 35km--felt remote like 20 years ago--incredible! Overlord rock step is a non-issue (can side-slip down on soft snow, just a couple of metres). Step down to Naden Glacier easy boot pack (axe is handy) and Ripsaw crevasse well filled in. Singing Pass trail in awesome fast shape--some big roller coaster moguls but everything well filled in, including all bridge crossings. Made decent time (7:55 hours), Blackcomb Glacier to Whistler Village. I counted 18 unavoidable transitions, so that really cuts into travel time...So grateful for being able to experience this amazing, majestic landscape!

ARTICLES:

A ski tourer has been killed, one injured in an avalanche in the Chartreuse Mts: France

4 skiers presumed dead in Swiss Avalanche, rescue efforts continue: Vallon d'Arbi

Snow blocks Road to Hatcher Pass; 10 stranded at lodge: Alaska

Number of Swiss Mountain deaths falls by 8 pct in 2017: Geneva

Number of avalanches in Norway quadrupled in one year: Norway Today