Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: February 21, 2022

YESTERDAY:

Early Sunday morning.

First light on Pyroclastic and Mt Cayley. Can you see the recent wet loose avalanche activity?

Clouds started moving in during the am.

Convective clouds by the afternoon.

Overcast by 14:00 Hrs.

Snowing in the alpine by 14:30 Hrs. Convective flurries.

Breaks with convective activity at days end.

Weather Observations for February 21, 2022 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters -16, Winds were 40-60 KPH NNE--Horstman Hut

2180 meters -16, Winds were 45-65 KPH NNE--Whistler Peak

1860 meters -13, Winds were 30-50 KPH N--Rendezvous

1835 meters -13, Winds were 10-25 KPH N--Round House

1650 meters -11, 1 cm in 12 Hrs, 1 cm in 24 Hrs. Base 230 cm --Pig Alley

1570 meters. -11, trace in 12 Hrs, trace in 24 Hrs. Base 163 cm. Catskinner

660 meters -2, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +6.8, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday

Wind Chill at 2240 m -16 with 50 KPH Wind= -30 Deg C

As of 07:00 Hrs we have broken cloud and unlimited visbility.

FORECAST:

Ridging today with sunny skies in a Northerly flow aloft. Some residual cloud this am giving way to sunny skies and cooling temperatures. Should be mostly sunny by noon. Ridging strengthens Tuesday with an arctic outbreak bringing cold temperatures and sunny skies. A weak trough pushes through on Wednesday with mostly cloudy skies and slowly receding temperatures with the odd sunny break. Possibility of an afternoon flurry. Sunny skies and seasonable temperatures for Thursday with little change in the pattern. As of now Friday is looking sunny, unsettled with a mix of sun and cloud for Saturday. Pacific front is forecasted to arrive Sunday with a welcome change in the long term draught. More on that as we get closer. Guesstimates: 0 cm by Tuesday am, 0 cm by Wednesday am, 0-trace by Thursday am, 0 cm by Friday am. Long range models are calling for snow Sunday into Tuesday of next week.

GOES IR image from this am.

GOES 17 ABI Image 2022/02/21. 05:00 Hrs.

Ridge of high pressure with Arctic front brining cold temperatures today.

Northerly flow aloft for today.

Ridge of high pressure with Arctic outbreak bringing cold temperatures for Tuesday.

Dirty ridging in the morning, clouds from low in the afternoon on Wednesday.

May see some cloud on Wednesday, not sure if this is totally accurate.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

An avalanche has killed a snow biker in Montana. Articles below. GNFAC Pic

Heard some explosions yesterday am, but not sure what happened on Whistler??

No new avalanches observed on Blackcomb!

Involvement Coquihalla Summit. MIN Report < click here. Jim Image

FROM AVALANCHE CANADA--SEA-SKY:

Avalanche Summary

Thin wind slabs were reactive to ski cutting just below ridge crests Saturday afternoon.

On Thursday, a natural icefall triggered a size 2.5 avalanche on the slope below. This avalanche was on a northeast aspect at 2100 m.

On Wednesday, a size 1 natural cornice fall was observed on an east aspect at 2200 m. It was in extreme terrain and did not pull a slab on the slope below.

Snowpack Summary

The weekend storm produced 4 to 8 cm of snow with strong southwest wind that likely formed thin wind slabs in exposed terrain.

The mid-February crust is down 10 to 30 cm . This melt-freeze crust is reported to exist on all aspects and elevations, except for some of the highest elevation polar aspects. Facets have been observed above the crust on polar aspects.

The late-January crust/facet/surface hoar interface is buried down 40 to 100 cm. This layer was most reactive between 1700 m and 2000 m. While this layer now appears to be dormant in many parts of the region, it may be possible to trigger it with a large load or in shallow snow pack areas at upper treeline or lower alpine features on polar aspects.

INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Reset may not happen for a week! Hopefully a change will occur sooner!!!