June 11, 2014

    Convective clouds over Whistler Mountain Monday Afternoon.

    Complex terrain on Mt Currie.

    Alpin Glow Monday June 9, 2014.

    Sunset Monday Evening.

    Rain showers in the valley, heavier near 18:00 hrs, Tuesday. .6 mm recorded at Nester's Station.


Weather Observations for June 11, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        +3, Winds were 15-20 KPH from the SSE
1860 meters        +1, Winds were 0-10 KPH from the S
1550 meters        +4, Base 40 cm and shrinking.
  660 meters      +10, Valley Temperature, Max +15.7 Yest, .6 mm of rain Yest.

    Stratus layer this morning, should lift and dissipate?




For the forecast, high pressure aloft moved into the area later on Tuesday bringing drier conditions back to the area with near flat surface flow. The mid layer cloud layer should slowly dissipate and an upper level cloud layer will slowly develop giving us an unsettled day. A stronger low pressure system will slowly move into the area Thursday, unsettled in the morning with mostly cloudy skies in the afternoon turning to light precipitation later in the day. Precipitation will increase late Thursday evening into early Friday morning (Lt-Mod) and slowly dissipate by Friday afternoon as a weak upper level trough moves through the zone into Saturday with cloudy skies and the chance of some showers. Sunday is also looking mostly cloudy with some showers possible. Monday, as of now is looking unsettled if we get some weak ridging, back to a more typical June.

    The low may brush us but some precipitation is on its way.

    Satellite image taken at 07:00 Hrs this am.

June 9, 2014

    Cloudier Saturday and Sunday, still very dry!

    A very quiet Green Lake early last Friday morning.

    HETS Training on Saturday.

    SAR Long Line Rescue Practise, Saturday.

    Just after noon it began to look ominous on Sunday.

    By 18:00 Hrs it began to rain Sunday: June 8, 2014. Not enough to make a difference.

    Looking South this am at 06:00 Hrs.

    Looking North this am.

Weather observations for June 9, 2014; taken at 07:00 hrs.

2240 meters         0, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters       +1, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the SSE
1550 meters       +5, Snow Height? Not much.
  660 meters       +6, Valley Temperature, Max temp Yest +21, .2 mm of precip

Freezing level dropped to 2000 meters last night.


For the forecast, the WestNorthWest Flow will bring sunny conditions with cloud development later in the day, as the high dominates. The low to the North will allow a weak trough into the area for Tuesday with mostly cloudy conditions and the possibility of showers. The high rebuilds again for Wednesday for an unsettled day with a mix of sun and cloud. Another stronger surface trough moves in for Thursday with cooler temperatures and a moist flow. Thursday could be an unsettled day with precipitation beginning Thursday evening into Friday as the low moves South. There are some inconsistencies in the models for later in the week. Saturday could also be a rather wet day.

The large surface high off the coast will loose some ground and the low will spread cloud and precipitation into the area near the end of the week. MM5 image for Thursday.

    Satellite image from this am at 07:00 Hrs.

June 6, 2014

    Old cornice drop.

    Cool clouds from Wednesday.

    Old slab releases.

    Fairly large old slab avalanche with a glide crack.

    407 Shadow





Weather observations for June 6, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        +2, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the S
1860 meters        +3, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the ESE
1550 meters        +5, Snow is melting quickly
  660 meters        +4, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest +18


For the forecast, the high pressure and associated Northwesterly flow will give us mostly sunny skies today, some cloud from the North will likely spill into the area later today. Convective activity still likely. A dry upper trough will move through Saturday into Sunday with unsettled weather and the possibility of some rain on Sunday. Next week is looking unsettled with some moisture possible on Tuesday from a stronger onshore flow and cooler air mass.

    As of 06:30 we have clear skies and unlimited visibility in the alpine.

    High pressure maintaing dominance into Saturday and beyond.

    Model looks good for today with a Nothwesterly flow, cloud development likely later today.

    Looking at the GFS we may see some moisture move into the area Sunday?

June 4, 2014

Thanks to Kevin Fogolin for these recent images. 


Hi Wayne,

Thought I would pass along a few photos of some recent deep slab activity
noted last week up in the Toba area. Definitely more late season activity
this year when compared back to the last few. Failures were suspected on the
Oct.30th layer with all activity observed on north west through to north
east alpine slopes with cornice fall as the primary trigger.

Thanks again for all the work in keeping the blog going, much appreciated!

Kevin 

                                                                                                                            Kevin Fogolin Photo

                                                                                                                                Kevin Fogolin Photo

                                                                                                                             Kevin Fogolin Photo

    Sunrise June 3, 2014.


Weather observations for June 4, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2240 meters       +1, Winds were 30-40 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters       +2, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the SSE
1550 meters       +4, Snow is still melting, Base?
  660 meters     +11, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest +22




For the forecast, the high pressure off the coast will maintain low level onshore flow into the weekend. We can expect dry and mild conditions for this time period. The low pressure system North of our zone still has the potential to spin some cloud into our zone. Convective cloud development has been occurring but luckily so far we have seen no lightning in the area. Chance of some convective showers each day, but Friday looks to be the one day when it will occur. We may see a change on Sunday as an upper level trough passes through the area with cloudy conditions and the possibility of light rain. More on that later. Freezing levels will remain well above the peaks in our area for the most part, slightly lower today, just above 2300 meters this morning. The marine stratus layer made its way into the valley last night, should burn off as it is not particularly a thick layer.

   Mid mountain layer as of 07:00 Hrs this am.

    Satellite Image from this morning at 07:00 Hrs.  Marine stratus layer has moved onshore.

    High pressure still dominating into the weekend.

June 2, 2014

    6 people confirmed buried on Mount Rainer, story in articles below.                 Internet Photo

    June 1, 2014 at 07:30 Hrs.

    Partially cloudy but the start to an awesome day.

    Convective clouds grew as the day progressed.

    Looking up the Pemberton Meadows, early Sunday morning.

    June 2, 2014, cloud to the North of our area, expect convective activity today.



Weather observations of June 2, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2240 meters      +5, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the NNE
1860 meters      +6, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the NNE
1550 meters      +8, Snow is still melting.
  660 meters      +9, Valley Temperature, Max Yest was +24




For the forecast, the high pressure over the Northwest Pacific will maintain low level onshore flow for the remainder of the week. There is a weak upper level trough to the North of our zone which will likely bring more cloud to the area this afternoon. There is a chance this activity could trigger isolated thunderstorms later in the day. The trough may also affect us on Tuesday but we will see mostly sunny skies. Wednesday and Thursday are looking very sunny, Friday may see some cloud from the North move into our area but again mostly sunny.

    Satellite image from June 2, 07:00 Hrs. Marine stratus layer along the coast.

    High is very significant but the low to the North may send some cloud our way.

May 31, 2014

    May 31, 2014 is looking sweet.

    South side of Wedge.

    Very ice blue.

    Recent avalanche activity in the Spearhead.

    Spearhead Range.

    Some dirty slides.


Weather Observations for May 31, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        +5, Winds were 0-10 KPH from the NNE
1860 meters        +5, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the E
1550 meters        +6, Snow there is melting
  660 meters      +10, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest + 21



For the forecast, sunny skies for our zone today with a light Northerly flow aloft , marine stratus layer may spread inland tonight into tomorrow as a weak low moves through with the chance of some showers Sunday into Monday.  Tuesday is looking like another sunny day as the strong ridge of high pressure dominates until at least Thursday. An upper level low may drop into the area on Thursday evening into Friday with the chance of some showers.

    As of 08:00 hrs we have clear skies and unlimited visibility.

    Some stratus cloud on the ocean, satellite image from this am.