January 29, 2015

    An avalanche has claimed a life on the Grand Envers-Valle Blanche, France. Story Below. Net Pic

    An Avalanche in Vecors, France has claimed a 17 year old student. Story Below     Internet Pic

    Stratus layer began to lift early Wednesday Morning, January 28, 2015.

    Great colour Wednesday morning.

   Armchair with a lot of blue in the background.

   Still skiing/riding to the valley.

    Front side of Blackcomb.

    Nice light at 16:30 Hours.

    Sunset Wednesday evening, January 28, 2015.


Weather Observations for January 29, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -4, Winds were 20-25 KPH from the S
2180 meters        -2, Winds were 20-25 KPH from the WSW
1860 meters        -1, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the SSE
1835 meters         0, Winds were 10-20 KPH from the WSW
1650 meters        -1, No new new snow, Base 122 cm
1550 meters         0, No new new snow, Base 99 cm,  Relative Humidity 40%.

  660 meters        -2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday +6.7

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


For the forecast, a weak upper level shortwave trough is moving through the area this morning with mostly cloudy skies in a dry air mass. The upper level ridge will rebuild this afternoon into this evening with unsettled conditions into Saturday with higher than normal temperatures for this time of the year. Freezing levels will fluctuate between 1600 to 1900 meters.  A warm front is expected to reach the coast of Vancouver Island for Saturday morning, spreading clouds and light precipitation to our area for Saturday into Sunday afternoon. Freezing levels will start at 1700 meters for this event and end Sunday evening at around 1300 meters. The ridge rebuilds for Monday with unsettled conditions and cooler temperatures. There is little confidence in the models past Tuesday so more on that over the weekend. Possibly a warm front arriving on the coast for Tuesday evening followed by a cold front on Wednesday. Guesstimates: 3-5 cm by Sunday morning, 3-5 cm by Monday morning.

   Satellite image from later in the afternoon on Wednesday.

    In the big picture the North Coast is still receiving a significant amount of cloud.

    Present imagery.

   Upper ridge over the Pacific and Surface ridge in the interior, building into Saturday.

   Warm front moving onshore for Saturday afternoon.

   Light precipitation for Sunday.



ARTICLES:

A Slovenian man lost his life in an avalanche on the Valle Blanche on Wednesday: France

Another tragic avalanche fatality in France on Thursday: Vercors Avalanche

Update on the avalanche in Pakistan: One Body Recovered

Bitten but not Swallowed: Arc'teryx, The Bird

New Folding snow saw: Brooks Range Mountaineering

Avalanche Clinics for Fat Bikes: Utah

   Looking North on Wednesday morning.

    Stratus layer lifted and dissipated by noon on Wednesday.

    Green Lake Wednesday afternoon.

   Fissile and the Latte to Latte.

    Some cloud moved in at the end of the day.

January 28, 2015

    Some breaks by 07:30, January 27 2015.

    Sun made its presence early in the morning.

    Sucker hole did move through in the morning!

    Cloudier around noon on Tuesday.

    Upper elevations had some challenging light at times.

    Sunset January 27, 2015.

Weather Observations for January 28, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -6, Winds were 10-15 KPH from the S
2180 meters        -5, Winds were 5-10 -KPH from the S
1860 meters        -6, Winds were 0-5 KPH from the S
1835 meters        -5, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the SE
1650 meters        -4, No new new snow, Base 122 cm
1550 meters        -2, No new new snow, Base 98 cm,  Relative Humidity 92%.

  660 meters        -1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday +7.3.

For the Forecast, the upper ridge will bring unsettled conditions (mix of sun and cloud) in a dry and warm airmass into Saturday. The ridge will break down late Saturday\early Sunday morning allowing a weak cold front to spread light precipitation into the area Sunday with a freezing level around 1200 meters. The ridge may rebuild for Monday prior to a series of weak frontal bands to move through the area next week with cooler temperatures than we have been experiencing. Freezing levels for the next few days will fluctuate from 1500-1900 meters, dropping to 1000 meters on Saturday. Guesstimates 2-4 cm by Sunday morning, 3-5 cm by Monday morning. These amounts will likely change as we get closer to the less than needed event!

    Mostly cloudy yesterday in the satellite image.

   Big picture has some cloud way out in the Pacific that may reach us by Sunday.

    Dry and cooler for today, short wave trough  moving down the coast.

    Cold front forecasted to arrive late Saturday night early Sunday morning.

ARTICLES:

Partly wrong with a chance of being right--Weather Forecasts: Science Daily

Snowboarder's Survival--Three days in the BC Backcountry: Warm Weather a Factor

Avalanche Canada Weather Forecast: January 28, 2015

    Whistler mountain engulfed in cloud at days end, Tuesday.

    At sunset there was some large holes and awesome light on the cloud tops.

January 27, 2015

    More information on the Couloir de Mamelle Avalanche, France. Story Below  Photo D L Vincent

    Sunrise Monday January 26, 2015.

    Sunrise was officially at 07:54 Monday morning.


    Very high cirrus looking Southwest from the Peak of Whistler.

    Fissile Mountain, Monday afternoon.

    Sunset January 26, 2015.


Weather Observations for January 27, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -2, Winds were 30-45 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters        -1, Winds were 30-45 -KPH from the SSW
1860 meters        -1, Winds were 15-25 KPH from the E
1835 meters       +1, Winds were 25-35 KPH from the SSE
1650 meters       +2, No new new snow, Base 122 cm
1550 meters       +2, No new new snow, Base 100 cm,  Relative Humidity 91%.

  660 meters       +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +9.

   As of 07:00 Hours we have overcast skies with unlimited visibility. Lights top left Rendevous.



For the Forecast, the weak surface front presently passing through will move East by this evening in a Southwesterly flow. Cloudy skies for today with the chance of some isolated snow flurries above 1500 meters. The upper level high pressure will rebuild for tomorrow morning with unsettled conditions and the freezing level briefly dropping to around 1200 meters. Unsettled conditions well into Saturday can be expected with the freezing level moving back up to around 1800 meters for  Wednesday then fluctuating between 1500-1800 meters until Saturday. Uncertainty in the models beyond Saturday, but as of now there is a good chance for a Pacific Front to arrive on the coast Saturday evening with cooler temperatures and light snowfall into Sunday.

    Yesterday at around noon, the weakening front is on the coast.

    Big picture from yesterday afternoon.

    Very little moisture for this morning as the weakening front moves East.

   The high pressure will rebuild this evening for unsettled weather into Saturday.

   Weak front passing through today.

    High pressure rebuilding for Wednesday.


ARTICLES:

Deadly large avalanche leaves 6 experienced ski tourer's dead in France: Pistehors.com

Oregon Supreme court finds ski area liability release unenforceable: Bend, Oregon

POV Snowmobile cuts out small slab: January 25, 2015

BC SAR weekly Incident Report: Jan 12 to Jan 18, 2015


OBSERVATIONS:

Hi Wango,

I went out today (26 Th) to have a look at the aftermath...found a 5cm crust in the alpine that was supportive to skis and boots in most polar alpine areas. Solar alpine areas had the crust breaking down on steeper slopes and would not support a boot. Below the crust was moist snow, so if you punched through the crust, you would post-hole. At treeline in the afternoon the solar aspects had no crust left, just moist snow, and polar aspects had a breakable crust. Below treeline, the snowpack was isothermal. Treeline south aspects in the afternoon were the runs of the day. Ski crampons are highly recommended...
We had moderate to strong winds out of the SW, scattered cloud, no precip and mild, positive temps. 
Cheers
Jeff Van Driel

                                                                                                                                                               Jeff Van Driel Photo

                                                                                                                                    Jeff Van Driel Photo

                                                                                                                                  Jeff Van Driel Photo

                                                                                                                                     Jeff Va Driel Photo

                      Bottom of Blackcomb Glacier, still thin at this elevation.        Don Saugstad Pic

   Large avalanche in big terrain, close up of the fracture line in the Couloir de Mamelle at top of page.

   There were some great colours for about 5 minutes Monday morning.

   Tower 2 and 1 of the Peak to Peak lift on the Whistler side.

   Warm weather is affecting the lower mountain. Lower Peak to Creek above Creekside.