Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: January 24, 2022

YESTERDAY:

First light on Whistler Peak.

Nice light in the am.

There was some nice morning light.

Front moved in by noon.

Front was sliding down the Coast Sunday afternoon.

Still dry snow on North facing aspects.

Another awesome day, another day of good sliding!!!

Weather Observations for January 24, 2022 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters 0, Winds were 10-20 KPH NW--Horstman Hut

2180 meters +1, Winds were 20-30 KPH NW--Whistler Peak

1860 meters 0, Winds were 5-10 KPH SE--Rendezvous

1835 meters +1, Winds were 0-5 KPH SSW--Round House

1650 meters -1, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs. Base 220 cm --Pig Alley

1570 meters. 0, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs. Base 156 cm. Catskinner

660 meters -5, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +3.7, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday

As of 07:00 Hrs we have clear skies overhead, unlimited visibility.

FORECAST:

The large upper level ridge continues to dominate the pattern in a Northerly flow aloft. Mostly sunny today with a few clouds in the mix. The freezing level will likely top out at around 2500 meters. An inversion this am, 0 Deg C at 2240 m. The low will send a series of shortwave troughs with some cloud over the next few days. A mix of sun and cloud will continue into Friday. Still thinking some much needed snow arrives Friday night into Saturday. More on that as we get closer. Guesstimates: 0 cm until Saturday am, Jan 29, 2022.

GOES IR image from this am.

GOES 17 ABI image. 2022/01/24. 05:00 Hrs.

Ridge of high pressure the dominant force.

Westerly-Northerly flow aloft today.

High pressure with a shortwave trough heading our way from the low on Tuesday.

High still the dominant force Wednesday .

High pressure with some cloud spilling in over the high.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

An avalanche has killed a snowboarder in Austria. Article below. Net Pic

A ski tourer was seriously injured on Col de Sanetsch, Switzerland. Article below. Net Pic

Ring Creek, Gargoyles Area, Old Wet loose. Garibaldi Provincial Park. Johan Johan Pic

Old wet loose, Gargoyles, Ring Creek. Johan Johan Pic

Recent wet loose below Rainbow Mountain.

Older Sz 2.5 Appa Glacier, on rain event. Crown 60-70 cm. Bryce Anderson Pic

No new avalanches observed on Whistler, continued cornice trimming. Xc Sz 2-2.5.

Old cornice control scars above Blackcomb Bowl. Cornice trimming produced a Sz 1.5 Xc.

Very old debris below HUSUME still a problem if you ski/board into it.

FROM AVALANCHE CANADA:

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche activity associated with the warming over the weekend has been minimal. On Friday and Saturday, small loose wet avalanches were observed out of steep south and east facing terrain and explosive control work produced cornices up to size 2.5. On Friday, natural and skier triggered wind slabs size 1.5-2 were reported.

Last week, some very large natural avalanches took out mature timber and left mountainous piles of debris down to very low elevations. Check out the insane photos of the size 4 in this MIN from January 15th. We were anticipating the possibility of avalanches of this scale during current warm weather but as of writing, this activity has not materialized. Parts of the region are currently under a Special Public Avalanche Warning (SPAW). Check out this new blog post for additional information.

Snowpack Summary

At mid elevations, moist surfaces or a thin crust can be found on solar aspects, while most aspects at upper elevations remain dry. Wind slabs linger in exposed high elevation terrain, mainly on north and east aspects.

The widespread and robust January 16 melt-freeze crust sits up to 30 cm deep, as high as 2100 m. There have been some observations of surface hoar sitting on the crust on polar aspects at treeline and in the alpine north of Pemberton but this does not appear to be widespread. At lower elevations, the previously rain soaked upper snowpack is moist or wet and may be capped with a breakable crust.

The depth of the early December crust/facet layer is highly variable through the region but appears to be typically down 100-200 cm. Some operators are showing the depth as low as 60 cm in shallow snowpack areas and as deep as 3 m in wind loaded terrain. The weak layer is most prominent between 1700 and 2100 m. The layer continues to be a concern through the current period of major warming and sun. The most likely place to trigger it would be in thin, rocky snowpack areas where it is shallowest.

INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Some early morning fog.