January 29, 2016

         Removing the 26 cm of new snow on the deck of Christine's. Thursday January 28, 2016.

    26 cm at 1860 meters.

    Shot placement JC Wall early Thursday morning.

    Ski cutting yesterday morning was very elevation specific. Sz 1 loose wet slides.

    A size 2 vehicle induced, side casting with a snow cat. Boyds's Trees.

    Small wet avalanche with a big destructive potential, which makes it a ? Sz 2.

    Nice looking sucker hole yesterday afternoon.

    Raining in the valley, snowing above 800 meters. Alpine closed for the day.

    Xe on Cougar Chute yesterday morning.

    Power flurry at 1200 meters at 16:15 yesterday afternoon.



Weather Observations for January 29, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -7, Winds were 40-60 KPH SE    --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    -7, Winds were 30-45 KPH SE    --Whistler Peak
1860 meters    -7, Winds were 30-40 KPH ESE  --Rendevous
1835 meters    -5, Winds were 20-40 KPH ESE  --Roundhouse
1650 meters    -4, 1 cm of new snow, 2 cm in 24 hrs, 198 cm Base, RH 98%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    -4, Trace of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 160 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters     0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +3.5. 28.6 mm of Precip recorded

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies, variable visibility and it is snowing lightly.


For the forecast, an occluded front will move into the area with light snow beginning this morning in a Southerly flow aloft, switching to Westerly this afternoon.. The freezing level will be just above the valley floor, dropping to 600 meters this evening. Winds will pick up and we can expect moderate snowfall by this afternoon into this evening. Overcast conditions will persist into Saturday with light snowfall and the FL remaining at the surface. Sunday will be a similar day with an upper level trough forming, light snow during the day with unsettled conditions by the evening. Monday and Tuesday are looking unsettled with a mix of sun, cloud and flurries. Guesstimates: 10-20 cm by Saturday morning, 4-8 cm by Sunday morning, 2-4 cm by Monday morning.

    Front arriving this morning.

    Westerly flow this afternoon with light to moderate winds.

    Hopefully the low will send 10-20 cm our way by tomorrow. Perhaps it will stall.

    Unsettled Monday & Tuesday with a front expected for Wednesday.




VIDEO FRIDAYS:

Almost caught--Aorosa, Switzerland: Kevin Bantli

Go to 5 min mark for some avalanche footage: Haines Pass, AK

Speed Kite Avalanche Control: Idaho

3 Sisters Avalanche Case Study: Avalanche Canada




ARTICLES:


Live to Ski another Day: Washington State Avalanche Awareness

Play Safe Out There: TumblerRidgeNews

High Avalanche Danger closes Highway 1 Thursday, Snowfall warning for Hwy 3: British Columbia

Common Snow Pack Tests: ASARC

Death in the backcountry: AnchoragePress

    Early Thursday morning.

    Image fro Thursday afternoon.

    Big picture on Thursday.

    Interesting conditions yesterday morning.

    Yup, another crust, this one at 1700 meters.

    Cornices grew yesterday and the night before.

    A few defined layers in the snow pack.

    Lots of graupel early in the afternoon.

    Many wire ropes!!

    Marine layer exiting the valley before the unsettled conditions last night.

January 28, 2016

    Broken cloud in the morning, very light precipitation for most of the day, Wednesday.

    Trimming cornice noses early Wednesday, January 27, 2016.

    Yesterday had that wet and warm look!!!

    By 15:45 Hours it began to snow (wet) at 1860 meters, temperature was 0, winds were 30-50 ESE.

    Very moist in the valley at days end. At 2240 meters it was 0, with 100 KPH winds SSE.


Weather Observations for January 28, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -1, Winds were 55-75 KPH S        --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters     -1, Winds were 50-75 KPH SSW  --Whistler Peak
1860 meters  -0.5, Winds were 40-60 KPH ESE   --Rendevous
1835 meters    +1, Winds were 20-60 KPH SE      --Roundhouse
1650 meters    +2, 7 cm of new snow, 7 cm in 24 hrs, 201 cm Base, RH 100%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    +2, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 164 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters    +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +4.8. 10.8 mm of Precip recorded

Maximum gust early this morning was 135 KPH SSE at 03:18 Hours, it was -1 at that time.

    As of 07:00 Hours we have overcast skies, variable visibility and it is snowing lightly.

For the forecast, a vigorous warm front continues to give us strong winds and heavy precipitation early this am. The FL will slowly drop to 1500 meters by this afternoon, and precipitation amounts as well, as a trailing cold front passes through. The flow will become more Westerly, with some breaks in the pattern tonight into Friday morning. We should see the FL hover around 800 meters by tonight. Another cold front in a Westerly flow will bring light snowfall with a FL near the surface for Friday into Saturday. A deep west coast trough will form for Sunday with unsettled cool conditions into Monday. As of now it looks like a weak upper ridge may form for Monday, more on that in tomorrow's post.  Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Friday morning, 18-22 cm by Saturday morning, 15-20 cm by Sunday morning.

    Warm front will move East this morning with a trailing cold front.

    Strong winds overnight and into this morning. Temperature at 2240 meters was -0.5 by 21:00 Hrs.

    Westerly flow with cooler temperatures.

    Cooler Temperatures Thursday.



ARTICLES:

Avalanche Fatalities spike in Western U.S.: BackcountryMagazine

Tree Well Danger an "Under Appreciated Risk": PowderMagazine

Second worst January for US avalanche deaths in 20 years: TheGuardian

Fundraiser aims to support family of avalanche victim: Montana

    Wednesday afternoon.

    Strong warm front heading right at us.

    Subtropical moisture North of Hawaii.

    Wet snow later in the afternoon.

    Snow was falling in the Alpine in the afternoon on sweep.

    Wet in the valley at the end of the day.

January 27, 2016

    Snow line yesterday morning was at 1100 meters.

    Snowing lightly at 08:00 Hours at 1860 meters winds 30-50 KPH and a temperature of -0.5.

    Wet snow from 1750 - 1600 meters made for tricky sliding in the morning.

    Snowing and blowing at 12:00 hours, winds 40-70 KPH, -1.5 at 1860 meters.

    By 13:00 Hours the front passed through with unsettled conditions in its wake.

    Once the visibility improved the sliding was quite good.

    Stayed unsettled until closing time.

    Sunshine on Cougar Chutes at days end.


Weather Observations for January 27, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -0.5, Winds were 45-80 KPH SSE  --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    -0.5, Winds were 35-60 KPH S       --Whistler Peak
1860 meters      +1, Winds were 30-45 KPH ESE  --Rendevous
1835 meters      +2, Winds were 20-45 KPH SE     --Roundhouse
1650 meters      +2, 0 cm of new snow, 3 cm in 24 hrs, 201 cm Base, RH 100%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      +1, 0 cm of new snow, 4 cm in 24 hrs, 174 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters      +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +3.5. 0 mm of Precip recorded

Maximum winds yesterday at 2240 meters were 89 KPH South as the front pushed through.

   As of 07:00 Hours this am we have broken cloud, variable visibility and it is raining lightly.

For the forecast, a slow moving warm front in a SSW flow aloft will bring moderate winds and light precipitation this morning with the FL rising to 2000+ meters. By this evening a trailing cold front will drop the FL to around 1800 meters with heavy snow expected above 1600 meters and strong winds. The system slowly moves East on Thursday with overcast skies, light precipitation and a descending FL. Hopefully by Thursday night we should see the FL hovering around 1000 meters. Another cold front for Friday with light to moderate snowfall and a FL just above the surface. As of now the weekend is looking overcast with light  snowfall and a FL at surface. Guesstimates: 20-30 cm above 1700 meters by Thursday morning, 5-10 cm by Friday morning, 10-15 cm by Saturday morning, 10-20 cm by Sunday morning.

     Slow moving warm front moving onshore this morning.

    Strong winds and heavy precipitation later today. Moisture tap comes from just North of Hawaii.

    Strong winds later today into this evening.

    Flow switches to Westerly this evening with cooler temperatures into Thursday.

    Cooler and a bit of a break Thursday night.

    More snow with a favourable freezing level for Friday.




ARTICLES:

Avalanches prove deadly: BC News

Skier caught and injured in a large avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon: Utah

Update on the Avalanche on Mount Herman that killed a Bellingham Man: Washington State

Avalanche Educators target safety message at Younger Crowd: Washington State

Washington Radiologist dies in an Avalanche while skiing Jan 21: Air bag deployed

Update on the avalanche that killed a Ski Patroller on Jan 19, 2016: Montana

    Frontal wave passed through around noon yesterday. Very defined.

    Next front is still looking juicy. Yesterday at noon.

    Next front may start as a warm front but become a cold front by tomorrow night.

    Great afternoon with spring like conditions lower on the mountain.

    Thick stratus layer above the valley floor in the pm.

    Variable wind effect with a mix of graupel and plate stellars at tree line.

   Plate stellars were accumulating in protected areas.