January 17, 2015

    Started breaking at 08:00 Hours Friday January 16, 2015.

    Official sunrise yesterday was at 08:05.

    Surprisingly quiet at 08:20 Hours. Yesterday morning.

    By noon it was unsettled with some great light.

    Alpin glow on Friday.

    Sunset January 16, 2014.

    Below Cham Chutes yesterday, skier remote, lots of whumphing!!      Tasso Lazaridis  Photo



Weather Observations for January 17, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -8, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters        -7, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters        -7, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the WNW
1835 meters        -5, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the E
1650 meters        -3, Trace of new new snow, Base 134 cm
1550 meters        -3, Trace of new new snow, Base 106 cm,  RH 97%.

  660 meters         0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest + 4.9, Precip in 24 hours 3.7 mm.

    As of 07:00 hours we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility. Lights from Rendezvous top Lt.

For the forecast, low pressure system offshore is slowly moving East. We will see an increase in high cloud with light flurries this morning in a Southwest flow. A cold front will reach the zone this evening changing to a Westerly flow with heavy snowfall and a freezing level around 1200-1400 meters. Strong winds will be associated with the front. This front will remain over the area into Sunday morning, then slowly move out of the zone with post frontal showers and a descending freezing level bottoming out at around 1000 meters by Sunday night. Monday will be cloudy with the slight chance of some isolated snow flurries and the freezing level hovering around 1000 meters. A ridge of high pressure will begin to build Monday evening bringing unsettled conditions to the area for Tuesday into Wednesday. Guesstimates: 12-16 cm by Sunday morning, 10-12 cm by Monday morning. 

Avalanche control work on WB yesterday produced mostly size 1 slab avalanches with a couple of size 2 results on Whistler.

    Low pressure moving onto the coast this morning.

    Most of the moisture will be here this evening.

    Most of the moisture is South of our zone, it is colder than forecasted yesterday.

ARTICLES: 

Two Avalanches in Suoavik: Iceland

Colorado Avalanche Information Centre releases mobile phone app: Colorado

"Big Plans" in the works for film honouring Avalanche Victim: Missoula, Montana

Dogs learning Life-Saving avalanche rescue skills in Revelstoke: CARDA

WB hosts Avalanche Awareness Days: Today and Tomorrow

    Just after noon the clouds were beginning to thicken out of the South.

    Cool light at days end!

    Snow line and cloud yesterday afternoon.

    Alpha Lake yesterday afternoon, under cloudy skies.

    A sequence of shots from someone Sled Boarding yesterday near Grizzly Lake. January 16, 2015.

    Just approaching the convex roll. Previous run to the right.

    Slab released about 2 meters in front of board.

    Westerly slope, already had been ridden about 30 minutes before this slab released.

    Luckily he did not go for a ride. Fracture looks to be 40-50 cm deep. 

January 16, 2015

    Mostly cloudy with some breaks Thursday January 15, 2015.

    Started snowing lightly in the Alpine around Noon.

    By closing it was snowing 1 cm per hour, winds were SE 50-70 KPH, and it was -5, at 2240 meters.


Weather Observations for January 16, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -5, Winds were 30-45 KPH from the S
2180 meters        -4, Winds were 40-50 KPH from the SSW
1860 meters        -3, Winds were 15-30 KPH from the ESE
1835 meters        -2, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the SSW
1650 meters        -1, 13 cm of new new snow, 14 cm in 24 hours,  Base 137 cm
1550 meters        -1, 11 cm of new new snow, 13 cm in 24 hours,  Base 106 cm,  RH 99%.

  660 meters         0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest +0.8, Precip-No Data? :(

    As of 07:00 Hours we have overcast skies with unlimited visibility at 1860 meters.

For the forecast, the low pressure system is moving East in a Southwest flow aloft and a high pressure aloft will begin building in the area this morning. We will have unsettled conditions later this morning into this afternoon with the chance of post frontal flurries this morning. Mostly cloudy later this afternoon and some breaks this evening. A weak warm front will move into the zone for Saturday in a Westerly flow with freezing levels rising to 1500 meters. We can expect light snow tomorrow morning into the evening when it will begin snowing moderately. The front will continue into Sunday and the freezing level will slowly descend to 1000 meters by Sunday evening. The ridge of high pressure at the surface and aloft redevelops on Monday with unsettled conditions into at least Wednesday.  There is a good chance we will see light snowfall by Wednesday evening. A warm air mass will likely result in inverted temperatures and stratus cloud development in this time frame. Guesstimates: 10-12 cm by Sunday morning, 12-15 cm by Monday morning.

    Satellite image from yesterday at 11:30. Pre frontal flurries were just starting.

    Ridge of high pressure is building this morning, bringing unsettled conditions.

    Warm front will affect the zone Saturday into Sunday.

     Freezing levels will rise to about 1500 meters on Saturday.



VIDEO FRIDAYS:


Great footage of an avalanche in France January 5, 2015: Pistehors.com

Massive 35 meter drop in Keyhole Falls, B.C.: Redbull

Snowboarder POV of Hatcher Pass Avalanche: Alaska

Backcountry Safety video by: Snowboard Addiction

Controlled avalanche engulfs village: Switzerland



ARTICLES:

Backcountry Safety for the next generation: Pique

High Avalanche Risk for all reporting areas-Be Careful: Scotland

Understand the language of Avalanche Bulletins: Powder Canada

After a ski patroller's death, a flurry of questions: High Country News, Colorado

    Just prior to official sunrise Jan 15, 2014 which was at 08:05. Had that snow is on the way look!!

    There were some holes that went through on Thursday morning.

    From the archives, massive stratus layer January 16, 2014.

    Last year at this time we had an issue in the Duffy area.

January 15, 2015

    Sunrise was at 08:06 Wednesday, January 14, 2015.

    Stratus layer again yesterday morning, it did dissipate fairly quickly.

    Bluebird by the afternoon on Wednesday.

    Still some snow in the trees where the sun does not shine, mid right.

    Alpin Glow Wednesday evening.

    Clouds began to move in from the Northwest.

    Sunset January 14, 2015.


Weather Observations for January 15, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters        -5, Winds were 20-25 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters        -5, Winds were 35-50 KPH from the S
1860 meters        -3, Winds were 5-15 KPH from the ESE
1835 meters        -2, Winds were 20-35 KPH from the ESE
1650 meters        -1, No new new snow, Base 124 cm
1550 meters        -1, No new new snow, Base 92 cm,  Relative Humidity 79%.

  660 meters        -7, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yest -0.3.

    As of 07:00 Hours we have high overcast and unlimited visibility to the Valley Floor.


For the forecast, the stalled front will eventually move on shore this morning with precipitation beginning around noon. It appears with the North South orientation of the moist air that most of the precipitation associated with the cold front will move Southward. The cold front will move through this evening into early Friday morning. The surface high will begin to rebuild for Friday for unsettled conditions and the chance of some post frontal showers. A weak warm front will move in for Saturday into Sunday with a spike in the freezing level to around 1500 meters by Sunday morning. The brunt of the warm front will be affecting our neighbours to the South of the boarder. Sunday the freezing level will drop back down to 1000 meters by the evening, with moderate to light precipitation during the day. Monday will be unsettled with the chance of post frontal flurries as the surface high once again rebuilds. Guesstimates 10-15 cm by Friday morning, 4-6 cm by Sunday morning, 8-10 cm by Monday morning.

   Image taken at 16:00 Hours Wednesday, clouds are still aways off.

   Front is approaching with strong winds along the coast.

   We should see the precipitation to start around noon.

    Moisture being drawn from the South Pacific will mostly end up in Washington State.

    Unsettled for Friday.

    Moisture moving through for Saturday into Sunday.

    Looking dry with the surface ridge building Monday and strengthening into the middle of the week.



ARTICLES:


Even a small avalanche can bury you: MPORA

Anatomy of an Avalanche: Avalanche Safety Week

Lack of snow is hurting small resorts in France: Pistehors.com

Backcountry Safety Video by:  Snowboard Addiction

Avalanche Canada unveils real-time info-sharing tool for backcountry users: Revelstoke

A controlled avalanche consumes the bottom station of a chair lift: Switzerland

    Looking towards the top of Crystal Chair.

    Some of the first building constructed in the town centre back in 1979. Centre of picture.

   There were some cirrus clouds about yesterday afternoon.

    Looking Southwest over the Whistler Golf Course.

Some photos from Vince Shuley who was out in the Spearhead. http://www.vinceshuley.com/