June 15, 2014

    Early Friday morning, another awesome day in the mountains.

    A rogue cell did move in from the North with thunder and lightning June 13, 2014.

    It moved in from the ice cap then headed East over the top of Blackcomb.

    Moved slightly South to Garabaldi lake then Northeast.

    Two hours after the activity it was unsettled.




Weather observations for June 15, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2180 meters     -0.5, Winds were 15-20 KPH from the SSW
1835 meters         0, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the WSW
1550 meters       +3, Base Almost gone
  660 meters       +9, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest +15

Weather stations at 2240 meters and 1860 meters on Blackcomb stopped on Friday at 15:15 Hours just after a strike near the peak.

The forecast has brought us another cloudy day as a trough passes through our area. Mostly cloudy conditions, a few breaks with isolated showers can be expected in a Westerly flow. The flow will shift to Northwesterly by tomorrow bringing another trough with a few more breaks. The cool unstable air mass has the potential for some more lightning activity tomorrow, with unsettled conditions. A very weak ridge is expected for Tuesday with mostly sunny skies and convective cloud development. The remainder of the week is looking unsettled with cooler temperatures than we have been experiencing. The freezing level tonight could drop to 1800 meters.

  Mostly cloudy this am with some patches of blue, image taken at 07:45. Fresh Snow above 2000 M.

    Satellite image from this morning at 07:30 Hrs.

    Low is still circulating to the South, may see some sunny breaks today.

June 13, 2014

    Unsettled day with some convective development. June12, 2014.

    Lots of activity at the bottom of the Bike Park.

    Darker clouds did form as the day progressed.

    Eventually for a brief period it did rain, but not enough to make much of a difference.

    Rained for a short while around 15:45.

    Nice light at days end June 12, 2014.



Weather observations for June 13, 2014; taken at 07:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        +1, Winds were 40-60 KPH from the NNE
1860 meters        +4, Winds were 30-40 KPH from the N
1550 meters        +7, Snow depth, melting quickly
  660 meters      +11, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest +21, Precip Yest .5 mm.


Full moon tonight, sometimes referred to as the Strawberry Moon.


For the forecast, the low is certainly keeping us drier than forecasted 2 days ago. The deep upper low to the South of our zone continues to spin moisture and some areas are getting moderate precipitation from the NorthEasterly flow. Another weak level trough is expected for tomorrow followed by a series of weak troughs into Monday. This unsettled weather pattern will continue into early next week. There has been little confidence with the inconsistencies in the various model runs. As of now it looks to  warm up and dry out by Tuesday?? The cool and relatively moist pattern will give us cloud, sunny breaks and the chance of showers over the weekend. At this rate we could have a very dry June. The mix of high pressure and low pressure certainly brings unsettled conditions.

    Image from 07:00 Hrs this am, Mid and High clouds with unlimited visibility.

    Low is just South of our zone.

    Still a chance of some precipitation according to the GFS for today. Looks nice to the West.

    Another unsettled day for Saturday, the weak high pressure seems to continue to give us breaks.

    Satellite image taken at 07:00 Hrs this morning. Raining in the Fraser Valley.

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.