March 3, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche in France has killed 4 skiers in Entraunes. Article below.                             Net pic

    An avalanche in La Grave has killed a young women. Story in article section.                     Net Pic

    Locally, not much activity. Xe cornice drop Sz 1. Sr Sz 1.5




    YESTERDAY:

    Overcast early Friday morning.

    Wedge Mountain, the West Couloir.

    Soft light in the am.

    Blackcomb with Fissile in the background.

    Whistler Mountain.

    There were some nice breaks in the afternoon.

    Nice snow in the trees.

    Great snow on the right aspect.

    Limited visibility Friday before dusk.

    Friday afternoon.

    Big picture from Friday.


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

2180 meters   -11, Winds were 20-30 KPH NE   --Whistler Peak
1835 meters   -10, Winds were 10-15 KPH NNE --Roundhouse
1660 meters   -10, 1 cm of new, 1 cm in 24 hrs  Base 316 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters     -4, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.5, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud and unlimited visibility.



FORECAST:

Unsettled weather today in a Northwesterly flow aloft. Sunny breaks this am with increasing cloud cover later in the day as a weak upper trough pushes into the area for Sunday. The freezing level could rise to 1000 meters with day time heating. Sunday will be cloudy with periods of light snowfall and the FL remaining at surface. Unsettled Monday with increasing cloud in the afternoon with some light snow. A weak ridge builds for Tuesday and Wednesday before a weak front moves onto the coast bringing some welcome snow on Thursday.
Guesstimates: 1-3 cm by Sunday morning, 5-10 cm by Monday morning, 4-6 cm by Tuesday morning.

    GOES IR image, Alberta surface low moving North. Unsettled on the Coast.

    Unsettled today with cooler temperatures.

    Unsettled this morning with an improving trend.

    Think the arctic front will bring some flurries later in the day.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Looking like cloudy skies for Sunday.

    Snow on Sunday.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Older debris from natural activity on Thursday.

    Wind affect in the alpine.

    Plate Stellars, click for explanation.

    Wind affect at tree line.

    Natural activity widespread from Thursday.

    Popped out, buried surface hoar?


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Blackcomb Slack

Sky Pilot



ARTICLES:

An avalanche has killed a young women in La Grave, France: Orcieres Couloir

Avalanche kills 4 ski tourers in France: Guide Questioned

1 injured, several caught in avalanche at Squaw Valley: Lake Tahoe

Man buried in snow rescued after avalanche at Squaw: Video

Snowboarder dead in Blizzard at Tahoe: Avalanche Danger

More info on the avalanche that killed a guide at the WFT: Arcalis

Snowpack levels show dramatic decline in Western States: Oregon

Out-of-bounds snowboarder rescued just meters of West Vancouver Mountain Cliff: North Shore