February 8, 2015

            Weather and avalanche danger hampering search for Military SAR member. Net Pic

    Unlimited visibility, 0 degrees, light winds as of 08:00 Hours February 7, 2015.

                 A bit of snow at the Horstman Hut on Saturday Morning    Boyd McTavish Photo

    Flat light yesterday, avalanche control produced a size 3 in Blackcomb Bowl yesterday morning.

    Another grey moist day if you were in the valley. Decent turns in the new snow in the alpine.

    Road to Edgewater Lodge yesterday morning.




Weather Observations for February 8, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -3, Winds were 40-70 KPH from the SE
2180 meters        -2, Winds were 40-65 KPH from the S
1860 meters        -2, Winds were 25-50 KPH from the E
1835 meters        -1, Winds were 20-50 KPH from the SE
1650 meters         0, 8 cm of new new snow, Base 158 cm
1550 meters       +1, 3 cm of new new snow, Base 116 cm,  Relative Humidity 99%.

  660 meters       +4, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.9, 14.6 mm recorded before midnight.
                                  Squamish had 45.7 mm recorded yesterday with a high of +12.

Avalanche control on Whistler Blackcomb produced some size 3 avalanches with mostly size 2, on February 7, 2015.

   As of 07:00 Hours we have cloudy skies with variable visibility and it is not snowing.

For the forecast, a short wave trough has moved through the area early this morning with light to moderate precipitation rates in a Southwesterly flow aloft. Freezing levels should rise to about 1600 meters and hover there for most of the day. There are some lingering showers but mostly dry conditions for this morning with some broken cloud as the ridge builds for this afternoon bringing a brief period of unsettled weather. Will be a transition of mostly cloudy skies to unsettled by this afternoon. A very weak front coming from the low off the coast will bring cloudy skies and some light precipitation to the region this evening into Monday put we will be in a relatively dry air mass. Very light snow can be expected above 1500 meters. Cloudy for Tuesday morning before a ridge of high pressure aloft builds for Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday with warm temperatures and a FL around 2000 meters by Wednesday afternoon. Thursday is another transition day as a strong warm front moves in for Thursday evening with heavy precipitation and a FL above the local peaks. More on that later!! Guesstimates; 3-5 cm by Monday morning. Trace -2 by Tuesday morning.

   February 7, 2015-- Saturday, image taken at 13:30 Hours.

   This image taken at the same time as satellite image above.

    Still some moisture out there. Big picture from Saturday at 13:30 Hours

    Drying trend for our zone today.

   Mostly cloudy for Monday as the low keeps pushing cloud into our area.

    Ridge builds for Tuesday afternoon.


ARTICLES:

Rescue efforts searching for Military SAR expert hampered by avalanche danger: Banff National Park

Avalanche Expert urges caution in Regions Outdoors: Newfoundland

Airbags and Avalanche Safety: Warren Miller Entertainment

Police threaten to prosecute reckless Backcountry Skiers: France

Ortovox has a new sight with avalanche related topics: Safety Academy Lab

Lemmings: Offpiste Skiing

Northern BC Towns dig out from record breaking snowfall: 120 cm Dump

Local Mountain Conditions Report: ACMG Site

   Alta Lake is spilling its banks.

    Causing the River of Golden Dreams to become even higher than Friday.

    Truly in flood conditions as it approaches Green Lake.

    Snow in the lower elevations has been melting quickly in the past 3 days. Lots of snow up high.

                            

February 7, 2015

    Canadian Forces Member swept away by an avalanche on Polar Circus, Story Below Net Pic

    10:30 Friday February 6, 2015. Raining lightly and +2.

    River of Golden Dreams in full flood.

    Green Lake Friday morning, debris in Fitzsimmons Creek.

    Valley Trail by Meadow Park.

    By 12:30 on Friday it was snowing at 1835, the temperature dropped to +1.5.

    River of Golden Dreams in full flood by Saturday afternoon.



Weather Observations for February 7, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -2.5, Winds were 40-65 KPH from the SE
2180 meters           -1, Winds were 25-45 KPH from the S
1860 meters           -1, Winds were 25-45 KPH from the SE
1835 meters            0, Winds were 15-30 KPH from the SE
1650 meters          +1, 9 cm of new new snow, Base 152 cm
1550 meters          +1, 2 cm of new new snow, Base 113 cm,  Relative Humidity 99%.

  660 meters           +4, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +7, 38.9 mm recorded before midnight.
                              FL dropped to 1800 meters last night by 20:00 Hrs. Max wind yesterday at 2240
                              meters was 115 KPH at 07:00 Hours.

    As of 07:00 Hours we have overcast skies, variable visibility and it is snowing lightly.


For the forecast, a series of fronts (short wave troughs) will continue to influence the pattern in our area until Monday evening. Moderate precipitation is expected early this morning as a trough moves through in a strong Southwesterly flow aloft, with Freezing levels around 1700 meters, possibly dropping to 1400 meters by this evening. There may be a lull in the precip this morning into this afternoon before heavy precip begins again this evening. Moderate to strong winds are forecasted for the alpine.  Moderate precip rates are expected Sunday morning, with another lull Sunday afternoon then light precip expected for Sunday evening. The FL should hover in the 1500 meter mark through this time period.  Monday will see very little precip with cloudy conditions as we finally begin to dry out from this wet period. An upper level ridge will begin to build for Tuesday with mostly cloudy conditions and strengthen for Wednesday into Thursday with unsettled conditions. The air mass will remain fairly warm with the FL possibly being as high as 2000 meters on Wednesday. More on that later. Guesstimates: 20-30 cm by Sunday morning above 1400 meters, 10-12 cm by Monday morning, Trace to 3 cm by Tuesday morning.

   Flow until Tuesday, high pressure builds for Tuesday.

    Moisture expected for today.

    Low will move down the coast on Sunday.

    Not a good year for Atmospheric Rivers, I believe this is the fourth this season.

    Cooling off slightly later today.

   Brunt of the precipitation is South, but we are seeing our fair share!! Should see a lull this afternoon.

ARTICLES:

Canadian Military Personal swept away by an avalanche near the Weeping Wall: Banff National Park

Ancient snow patches melting at record speed: Science Daily

American Avalanche Review--NSAW Update: Mountain Lessons

Red Card for imprudent Ski Instructors: Pistehors.com

Avalanche that came down 'Like Waves' narrowly misses taxi on Route 450: Newfoundland

Pow Snow-Skater outruns avalanche: Colorado Footage

   Blow out on YBR. Bottom of Blackcomb.
   

   Alta Lake on Friday morning while it was raining moderately.

    Fitzsimmons Creek Friday afternoon.

    A wet looking warm day!!

    By Days end it was +7 in the town centre. Squamish broke a record at +13.2!, on February 6, 2015!!

   Good to see the sign at Shames Mountain; Terrace, B.C. lots of Pow there!!         Ryan Bougie Photo

Saw the signs up at Shames today at a couple different backcountry gates.  Over 70cm of storm is making for some incredible conditions today and some happy skiers.  Sc Sz 1.5 on steep convex roll and heavy sluffing in the trees.  

February 6, 2015

    Avalanche in the Krkonose Mountains claim a Czech skier, story Below.                           Net Pic

    Avalanche in Afghanistan claims one life. Story Below                                                    Internet Pic

    Snowing 2 cm per hour at 08:45 February 5, 2015. Temperature was 0.

    Conglomerate stellar's falling Thursday morning at 700 meters.

    By 15:00 hours it was raining lightly and +2 at 1835 meters,  +1 at 660 meters.

    By noon on Thursday we had slurry conditions in the valley.


Weather Observations for February 6, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -1, Winds were 60-85 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters     -0.5, Winds were 40-65 KPH from the S
1860 meters     -0.5, Winds were 30-50 KPH from the E
1835 meters       +1, Winds were 20-55 KPH from the E
1650 meters       +1, Trace of new new snow, 14 cm in 24 hours, Base 148 cm
1550 meters       +3, No new new snow, Base 116 cm,  Relative Humidity 97%.

  660 meters       +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +1.5, 27.5 mm recorded before midnight.
                            Squamish recorded 76.7 mm before midnight yesterday.

   As of 07:00 Hours we have obscured skies, limited visibility and wet snow is falling.

For the Forecast, vigorous moist Southwest flow aloft will continue to bring periods of light to heavy precipitation into our zone until Sunday. Freezing levels will fluctuate between 1800 meters and 1600 meters today with the chance of dropping to 1500 meters by tomorrow as the series of upper level troughs move through the South Coast. A large upper level ridge will begin to build off the coast and bring unsettled weather to the area Monday afternoon and continue to strengthen into Tuesday with unsettled weather. Guesstimates 10-15 cm today above 1800 meters, 15-25 cm by Saturday morning above 1600 meters, 15-20 cm by Sunday morning above 1500 meters.             

    Satellite image from yesterday afternoon. We were receiving light precip.

    Big picture from yesterday. Subtropical flow.

    Flow and moisture levels for today.

                               Jet stream for this morning.

    A series of upper level troughs embedded in the flow.

   Today's model.

    High pressure will be influencing our zone by Monday.

    High pressure well established again by Tuesday with some clouds in our zone.



VIDEO FRIDAYS:

Julien Lopez caught in an avalanche at World Freeride Competition: Kappl, Austria

Snowboarder captures avalanche on Go Pro: Romania

SLF Avalanche Experiment--Vallee de la Sionne: Cool Footage

Watch this video on China's Pollution affecting the world: NASA

The Avalanche Centre Mountain Weather Forecast: Avalanche Canada

Snow Ploughing Train, CN Train 406-Thats a lot of oil cars: Crossing, What Crossing!!







ARTICLES:

Avalanche kills young skier in Czech Mountains: Krkonose Moutains

Avalanche claims the life of a person in Ghoor: Afghanistan

Impact of Avalanches studied in Iceland: Sci & Tech

Avalanche control will be necessary in the next few days: Rogers Pass, Trans Canada Hwy

US Teen survives 48 Hours lost in Swiss Alps: Vaud Alps, Switzerland

Sobering Stuff by James Cove--Kicking Horse Resort- Avalanche Involvement: Planet Ski

   A mix of snow and rain around 10:00 Hours. Still 0 degrees.

    Creekside on a grey day Thursday.

    Raining lightly for most of the afternoon in the valley.

    16:00 Hours in the village on Thursday, very light precipitation, +1.