April 22, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Pockets of storm sl on lee slopes.

    Na Sz 1

    AC yestyerday produced several Sz 1-1.5 Xe, Xt, Xc. A few Sz 2 noted as well.

    Sa Sz 1


    YESTERDAY:

    The wizard bubble came in handy early Saturday morning.

    Snow line down to 1000 meters.

    Some breaks in the morning, but mostly cloud with some periods of fog.

    A break Saturday morning.

    Flat light at times in the am.

    There were areas of nice powder.

    More breaks in the afternoon, happy foot passengers.

    Nice light in the afternoon.

    Still some dark clouds lurking later in the day.

    Saturday afternoon.

    Big picture on Saturday.


Weather Observations for April 22, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -7, Winds were 0-5 KPH NNE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -6, Winds were 0-5 KPH NNE--Roundhouse
1660 meters     -7, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 314 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters     -3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +9.4, 3.1 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 06:30 Hrs we have high broken cloud to the North and unlimited visibility.



FORECAST:
An upper level ridge will build in the area into Thursday with a Northwesterly flow aloft. The FL will rise up to 1800 meters today, dropping down to 1200 meters tonight. Tomorrow the FL will reach the 2800 meters mark with a few clouds in the mix by the afternoon. Tuesday will be unsettled with a mix of sun and cloud with the FL reaching 3000+ meters. Trend continues into Thursday. Sun screen is a good idea.

    Goes IR image from this am.

    High pressure building, its going to get warm in the next few days.

   Ridge of high pressure.

    Ridge strengthens.

    Fronts along the coast.


     INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    With warming temps this coming week, cornices will become a big concern!!

    Sustrugi in the alpine. Strong winds + 100 KPH Friday night and early morning.

    On the fence, he eventually skied away.

    Snow was reactive on some slopes below the treeline.

    Flurries in the afternoon.



ARTICLES:

Two avalanche reports from Washington State worth looking at.

Park Butte Avalanche Fatality: March 10, 2018

Setting Sun Mountain Avalanche Fatality: March 4, 2018

Springtime Snow Safety Considerations: Missoulaavalanche.org