October 15, 2014

    Five people die in an avalanche, including 4 Canadians, in Nepal. Story Below.    Internet Image

    Avalanche near Naar, Nepal has killed three people. Article below.                        Internet Image

    Tuesday morning, fresh snow in the Alpine. October 14, 2014.

    Cold front passed through our zone Monday/Tuesday morning. Low of -4 at 04:30 Hours Oct 14.

    Snow line slowly moved down the mountain Tuesday.



Weather observations for October 15, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        -1, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the SSE
1860 meters         0, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the SSW
1550 meters       +2, Relative Humidity 93%
  660 meters       +5, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest was +11.3, 5.8 mm of precip.

For the forecast, a vigorous upper level trough in a unstable Southerly flow will affect our zone today with light rain this morning, easing to showers later today. An unsettled day for tomorrow. An off shore front will move in for Thursday evening with more precipitation expected into Friday. This front will move East by Saturday morning as a weak ridge builds bringing unsettled weather into Sunday. At this time Sunday is also looking unsettled. More on the weekend in Friday's post.

    Looks unsettled for Thursday.

    Good chance of some nice weather for Sunday.




Articles:

Earth just experienced the warmest six month-stretch ever recorded: NASA

Pentagon signals security risks of climate change: New York Times

Three persons killed after an avalanche near Naar Village: Nepal

Five people killed in an avalanche including 4 Canadians: Phu, Nepal

Blizzard and avalanches create havoc in Nepal: Cyclone Hudhud

    Image from Monday, system brought the first significant snow amounts to the alpine. FL at 1700 M

                    Image of Typhoon Vongfong

    Snow down to 1800 meters on Tuesday.

October 13, 2014

    Sunrise October 10, 2014.

    Soo Valley Friday morning.

    Fresh snow in the alpine October 11, 2014.

    Multi layers in the upper Pemberton Valley, October 12, 2014.




Weather observations for October 13, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters           0, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the S
1860 meters         +2, Winds were 10-30 KPH from the SSE
1550 meters         +4, Relative Humidity 99 %
  660 meters         +8, Valley Temperature; Max Temp Yest was +10.4; 1.2 mm of rain fell Yest.

For the forecast, a vigorous cold front is moving into our area by this afternoon in the wake of a passing warm front. This frontal system will bring moderate winds and heavy precipitation to our area into Tuesday morning. Tuesday is looking unsettled with the possibility of some breaks with cooler temperatures. A series of frontal bands will bring light rain showers to the area on Wednesday through Friday, Thursday could have steady light precipitation.  An upper ridge will begin to build for Saturday with unsettled conditions. As of now the long term models have Sunday as a nice day. Will elaborate on the weekend in Friday's post. We could receive 20 cm of snow in the alpine by Tuesday evening, with the freezing level dropping to 1800 meters by Tuesday, light accumulations of snow through Friday with the FL  slowly rising to + values by the weekend.

    Cold front moving through later this morning after a warm front passes through this morning.

    Rain for this afternoon.

    Ridge at this time is building for Saturday.


Meteorologist David Jones is working for Avalanche Canada: ACMWF

RCMP may foot the bill for SAR calls involving the CH-149 Cormorant: $30,000.00 per hour

Rains, Wind and Mountain Snow: 50 Shades of Van

Avalanche Canada's Mountain Weather Forecast for today: Good looking product

    Friday morning, October 10, 2014.

    Avalanche deflector berm on Symphony Chair.

    Bottom of an avalanche path in the upper Pemberton valley.

    Geese flying North on Sunday morning!?

    Very relaxed Marmot.

October 10, 2014

    Unsettled on Monday, high of +18, nice day for October 6 Th.

    Sunrise October 7, 2014.

    Became cloudier later in the day on Tuesday.

    Sunrise Wednesday morning.

    Stratus layer October 8, 2014; dissipated by 11:00 Hrs.

    Female Golden Eye on Harmony Lake Wednesday.

    Harmony Lake Wednesday morning.

    Cloudier by Thursday afternoon.

    Sunset Thursday evening at 18:30 Hrs, official sunset was 18:34.



Weather observations for October 10, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters        +4, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the SSW
1835 meters        +8, Winds were 15-25 KPH from the S
1550 meters        +9, Relative Humidity was 60 %
  660 meters        +5, Valley Temperature, Max Temp Yest was +18.1


For the forecast, a weak front will move onshore in a westerly flow with increasing cloudiness and light rain later today. We will be at the bottom end of a cold front so temperatures will dip.  Saturday is also looking wet with light rain showers and the chance of some breaks. A similar day can be expected on Sunday with light rain showers and unsettled conditions. As of now Monday is looking wetter than Sunday. A fast moving front will arrive for Monday bringing heavy rain to the area into Tuesday. As of now next week looks cool and moist, more on next week in Mondays post. Temperatures should become more seasonable and bring negative values in the upper elevations by Saturday. A recirculating typhoon off Japan will be pushing moisture our way by Monday, the jet stream is also setting up to bring a wet system our way Monday\Tuesday. Models are in disagreement at this time, so it is difficult to say exactly how the jet stream will track.

    Moisture in our area later today.

    Moderate rain can be expected  Monday/Tuesday. Finally some snow in the alpine.

    Big low to the North.

    Jet stream will pass over us on Sunday and may shift slightly North. Models are uncertain!!


Video Friday's:

Avalanche Rescue Dogs: France

Insane run at Red Bull Rampage: Jeff Herbertson

Natural Slab Avalanche this summer in New Zealand: Mt Ruapehu

Summer skiing on vocalic dust: Mt Etna



Articles:

Weatherblogs.com: El Nino Update?

The science behind avalanche control in mountain parks: Calgary Herald

Enter at your own risk: Outside Magazine

Why Crystal mountain needs Gazex: Kim Kircher Blog

First Colorado Avalanche Centre Forecast for the Season: 2014-2015

Hi all,

Passing this on from Dr. Bruce Jamieson?

Asarc (Applied Snow & Avalanche Research University of Calgary) is conducting a very short survey on the reporting rate of people caught in Size 2 or larger avalanches. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. The results of this survey will improve our knowledge of survival rates. If you have been caught in a Size 2 or larger avalanche, you are invited to complete the survey at http://goo.gl/VuTDWQ    Save the Word form to a folder on your computer such as the desktop, then complete the form, save your changes, and email it tobruce.jamieson@ucalgary.ca

This survey will remain open until 30 October 2014.

Feel free to pass this on to other practitioners - distribute widely! 

    It will be difficult travelling on the glaciers once it begins to snow.

    Awesome colours Tuesday Morning.

    Seracs on Ipsoot Glacier.

    Mount Garibaldi Wednesday afternoon.

   Golden Eye on Blackcomb Lake Thursday October 9, 2014.

October 6, 2014

    Sunset October 3, 2014 between Kamloops and Cache Creek.

   The beginning of the new grocery store.

    Unsettled on Sunday, +12 at 2000 meters.

    Glaciers are still melting, not much recovery at night. Temperatures have been above average!

                 ACF fundraiser at Dusty's, click here to sign up: Avalanche Canada Foundation




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

2240 meters          +7, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters          +9, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the ESE
1550 meters        +12, Relative humidity 86 %
  660 meters        +13, Valley Temperature, Max temp yest +17.4, .4 mm of precip recorded

7.9 mm of precip has fallen since Friday.

    Clouds with some breaks as of 06:30 Hrs this am.


For the forecast, unsettled weather will continue through the week. We should see a mix of sun and cloud today as the high pressure continues to build to the south. A weak front to the North will bring cloudier skies tomorrow. Models indicate that there is a chance of showers during this forecast period.  Wednesday is looking unsettled, Thursday the high pressure may push back and give us some nicer weather. Friday starts out unsettled but as of now it looks like the deep low developing in the Gulf of Alaska could bring rain to the area Friday evening. More on that on Friday.  Temperatures have been well above the average for this time of the year.

    Still on the edge of the low and high. Could get some showers over the next few days.

    Weak front to the North will still be influencing the weather pattern in our area.

     The low looks like it will be the dominant feature by Friday.


Nature's Feedback: Avalanche Education

Deer Valley resort agrees to purchase Solitude Mountain Resort: Utah

Electrical interference in avalanche transceivers: Mammut Avalanche Safety

Understanding Greenland Ice Sheet's meltwater channels: Science Daily

Thoughts on Honouring the Dead, and the Living: Steve Casimino

Last Mondays three avalanche deaths hit hard at the Snow Science Conference: Banff, Alberta

New device to alert ski patrol: Ski Alert Pitch

    Always inspiring to see Peter still going strong!!

   The Elk were out doing there thing on a recent trip to Banff.                              Suze Cumming Pic

    Kamloops Lake.

    Last light.

    A different view.