December 22, 2014

    First light Sunday morning, the first day of WINTER.

    The new snow just above the snow line. 23 cm at 1650 meters overnight.

    Winds were steady most of the day, 20-30 KPH most of yesterday morning at 1860 meters.

    Wind drift by the patrol building Top of 7 th Heaven.

    There were a few people out enjoying the snow yesterday.



Weather observations for December 22, 2014, taken at 06:00 Hours this Am.

2240 meters      -9, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the WSW
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 15-30 KPH from the WSW
1860 meters      -6, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the ESE
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 10-25 KPH from the SSW
1650 meters      -5, 8 cm of new snow, 9 cm in 24 hours, Base 131 cm
1550 meters      -4, 5 cm of new snow, 6 cm in 24 hours, Relative Humidity 90%, Base 98 cm

  660 meters      -1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +3.5, 7.2 mm of Precip recorded yesterday

    Valley Lights, as of 07:00 hrs this am we have broken skies and unlimited visibility.

For the forecast, an upper level ridge is building to the Southwest but we will likely see a dry unsettled day with some sunny breaks. Cloud will increase later today as a weak front moves into our zone with precipitation for tonight into tomorrow, with a freezing level hovering around 1000 meters. The front will slowly move East for Wednesday ushering in a upper level trough with dry cloudy conditions for Wednesday. Drier air in a Northwest flow will bring unsettled conditions to the area Wednesday night into Thursday. Freezing levels will begin to lower on Wednesday night to the valley level. Very light snow is expected for Friday. Guesstimates: 2-4 cm for Tuesday morning, 10-15 cm by Wednesday morning.

    Unsettled yesterday morning.

    Upper level ridge just off shore will bring dry conditions to the area today,

    Ridge weakens this evening allowing a weak frontal band into the area for Tuesday into Wednesday.

    Shortwave trough will pass through on Wednesday. 

    There is still uncertainty weather we will be dry for Xmas day and boxing day. Wet for boxing day?

ARTICLES: 

Amazing Snow Sculptures: Harbin Festival

Whistler Mountain opens for cross country skiing: Pique

Coquihalla Snowmobile Club: Conditions Report

Avalanche Warning Issued: Northern Colorado

    Some spectacular light at times yesterday.

    Lots of snow on this feature.

    New snow eating up some gear.

   Still wet in the valley.

December 21, 2014

Always a good sign when you are loading first thing in the morning.

    Snow line steadily moving into the Valley.

    There were moments of nice light through out the morning, precip was stalled until the afternoon.

    Just a bit too low for great turns.

    Gray Jays are becoming a nuisance.

    Good turns today but the snow was lighter yesterday. Temperatures warmed up from -7 to -3.

    Not great visibility yesterday, but some great coverage.



Weather observations for December 21, 2014, taken at 06:00 Hours this Am.

2240 meters      -6, Winds were 35-55 KPH from the S
2180 meters      -4, Winds were 55-70 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters      -4, Winds were 15-30 KPH from the ESE
1835 meters      -3, Winds were 40-65 KPH from the WSW
1650 meters      -2, 23 cm of new snow, 27 cm in 24 hours, Base 135 cm
1550 meters      -1, 20 cm of new snow, 26 cm in 24 hours, Relative Humidity 97%, Base 98 cm

  660 meters       0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +1.9, 20.3 mm of Precip recorded yesterday

    As of 07:00 hours we have broken cloud and variable visibility.



For the forecast, the cool moist flow has moved East with cloudy conditions in its wake. The first day of winter and it feels good to have gotten it so wrong. The right mix of temperature and flow has give us a perfect start to the winter season. Mostly cloudy today with some light snow forecasted for later today. An upper level ridge will try to establish itself in the area early tomorrow morning with unsettled conditions followed by very light flurries in the afternoon. Freezing levels will hover around 1000 meters. Cloudy for the next few days in a strong Westerly flow. The flow should change to a Northwest flow by Wednesday night with unsettled conditions, changing to sunny conditions for Christmas Day. Guesstimates: 2-4 cm by Monday morning, 3-5 cm by Tuesday morning




ARTICLES:

Urban Avalanche Advisory: Juneau, Alaska

Skier breaks leg in an Avalanche: Crested Butte, Colorado

Desperate Ski Resorts taking matters into their own hands: Cliff Mass Weather Blog

Avalanche Awareness Days January 17-18, Blackcomb Avalanche Awareness Hut: Avalanche Canada

    Sc size 1 yesterday morning on Blackcomb. There were a couple of size 2 Sc.

    Slabs were in the trees as well.

    Keeners at Glacier Express Lift.

    Many people hiking in the stormy conditions.

    Blackcomb Glacier Creek.

December 20, 2014

    First lift up Solar Coaster early Friday morning, December 19, 2014.

    Hard not to have a good day in powder that dry in the upper elevations.

    Spin drift off Chainsaw Ridge. Avalanche control produced mostly Size 1 soft slabs on Friday.

    Fracture line in Glacier Bowl on Whistler. Soft Slab!!

    Some areas were skiing thigh deep.

    There are still many Cevasses and Bergshrunds out there, keep your wits about you!!



Weather observations for December 20, 2014, taken at 06:00 Hours this Am.

2240 meters      -6, Winds were 60-90 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters      -6, Winds were 50-70 KPH from the SSE
1860 meters      -5, Winds were 20-35 KPH from the SSE
1835 meters      -3, Winds were 20-45 KPH from the SSE
1650 meters      -2, 14 cm of new snow, 18 cm in 24 hours, Base 116 cm
1550 meters      -2, 8 cm of new snow, 12 cm in 24 hours, Relative Humidity 98%, Base 80 cm

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +3.4, 5.1 mm of Precip recorded yesterday

    As of 07:00 Hours we have obscured skies, variable visibility, snowing and blowing.


For the forecast, two warm fronts will be moving through the area today. Strong moist Westerly flow will bring wet and windy conditions this morning as the first front moves onshore. The second will arrive this evening. Freezing levels will begin to rise and hopefully top out at 1600 meters. The moist flow will continue into Sunday with light precipitation and gradually decreasing freezing levels. Should see the FL drop to 1000 meters by Sunday evening as an upper level ridge begins to develop into early Monday morning. Cloudy conditions for Monday afternoon with flurries. Model runs are inconsistent and rapidly changing so more on next week tomorrow. Guesstimates: 12-16 cm by Sunday morning, 4-6 cm by Monday morning, Flurries Monday.

    Yesterday morning at 11:30 Hours.

    Saturday is still looking juicy.

    Two warm fronts moving in for today.

    Some precip for Sunday.

    Looking into next week there is a lot going on, model runs are changing quickly.

 

     Looking way out there it looks like Dec 25 will be fairly dry in a Northerly Flow.



ARTICLES:

Buried skier survives avalanche, digs head out of snow: Anchorage, Alaska

Low frequency Sound waves used to track avalanche movement: Boise State University

Review on Scott Alpride Airbag rucksack: Backcountry Skiing Blog

Upgrade your Avalanche Transceiver: Powder Canada

Worst start to winter in 25 years: France, PisteHors.com

    There were periods of unsettled weather yesterday morning!!

    The alpine is skiing very well!!

    Grooming a cross country ski track near the reservoir, on Whistler Mountain.

    There was some cool light in the cloud layer at times.

    The snow was very light on Friday.

December 19, 2014

    Light snow at 07:30 Hours Dec 18, 2014

    Short lived ridging yesterday morning.

    With the new snow covering hazards its a good time to be careful if exploring.

    A break in the approaching front near dusk.


Weather observations for December 19, 2014, taken at 06:00 Hours this Am.

2240 meters      -7, Winds were 45-65 KPH from the S
2180 meters      -6, Winds were 25-45 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters      -5, Winds were 30-45 KPH from the SSE
1835 meters      -3, Winds were 10-30 KPH from the SSE
1650 meters      -2, 13 cm of new snow, 15 cm in 24 hours, Base 105 cm
1550 meters      -2, 13 cm of new snow, Relative Humidity 99%, Base 74cm

  660 meters       0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +1.1, 4.4 mm of Precip recorded yesterday

    As of 07:00 Hrs we have broken cloud, variable visibility and very light flurries.

For the forecast, the cold front has moved East with an upper level trough following in its wake. The air mass is somewhat unstable so we can expect light snow during the day with overcast skies. A warm front arrives this evening into Saturday morning with a second warm front arriving Saturday evening. The majority of the precipitation in this system is heading South of our zone, snow amounts are now less then forecasted yesterday. Westerly flow will ramp up late on Saturday with strong winds in the alpine. The flow will diminish on Sunday and freezing levels will come back down to a desirable level. ( Max 1500 meters Saturday night-1000 meters by Sunday night) As of now an upper level ridge will bring drier conditions for Monday, still cloudy with some light snow.  Next week has a series of weak fronts moving onshore with seasonable temperatures. Guesstimates: 10-15 cm by Saturday morning, 10-12 cm by Sunday morning, 1-3 cm by Monday morning.

    Satellite image from noon yesterday.

    Still looking favourable for some snow today.



VIDEO FRIDAY'S:

Snow Flakes Forming: No More Rain Drops

Skiing Through an Avalanche: Big Mountain Pillow

Whistler Blackcomb Conditions; Dec 13, 2014: Dave Treadway

Bicycle and Deer Collision: California

Past post, but worthy of a watch: Clemina High marking: Rated R, Some descriptive language

Backcountry Starts Here: Donny Roth's Avalanche Experience




ARTICLES:

Jumbo Resort decision delayed: Avalanche Concerns

Marker King Pin review: Burly

After nearly dying in avalanche, rider teaches safety first: SnowRiders

Violent snowstorm leaves Five Dead, Cuts off Northern Japan: December 18, 2014



Thanks to Jeff Van Driel for these observations and photo:

Hi Wayne,
I went skiing with friends today up Steep Creek on the Duffey Lake Rd. 
We experienced a low snowpack as expected, but there was some skiing to be had. There was about 30cm at the highway, 80cm at 1775m, and 160cm at 2050m. The upper snowpack was right side up and we had 55cm of boot penetration in the alpine. For snowpack structure, have a look at the graph below. We had a deep tap test fail below the crust on mixed forms. The layer was down only 120cm where we did the test, contrary to our pit wall. We were able to find the dec 4 surface hoar, but it was unreactive to column tests or ski testing. There was evidence of light snow transport on lee features in the alpine and below ridge tops. We experienced mainly cloudy skies, light snowfall, temperatures around -5, and light and variable winds. As we all know, snowpack diminishes quickly below 1800m, and travel through below treeline is best done on a logging road to avoid the inevitable thrash. 
Cheers
Jeff Van Driel

     Enjoying some turns in the Steep Creek Area.                                                                            Jeff Van Driel Image

    Lower Disease Ridge yesterday afternoon.

    Winch Snow Cat working on preparing the Horstman T-Bar.

    Pakalolo looked more like a Blue Run yesterday afternoon.

    Grooming Wishbone at 16:30 Hours.

    Lights and low level moist cloud. Tube Park at Base 2.

   Old Avalanche Debris near the lake in Steep Creek.                                         Rena Worden Image