February 10, 2016

    First lift early Tuesday morning, February 9, 2016.

    Marine stratus layer in the valley.

    Russet Lake Tuesday morning.

    Different perspective on the slides in Overlord Glacier, cornice collapse.

    Multiple cornice failures from active cycle on Monday.

    Most of the cirrus cloud layer burned off by mid day.

   Lenticular's by the afternoon to the North.

    Chainsaw Ridge just before sunset. Clouds are on there way!!

    Sunset last night was at 17:18 Hours.

Weather Observations for February 10, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -1, Winds were 35-60 KPH SE    --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters     -1, Winds were 30-35 KPH SSE  --Whistler Peak
1860 meters    +1, Winds were 15-30 KPH E       --Rendevous
1835 meters    +2, Winds were 15-60 KPH SE     --Roundhouse
1650 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 232 cm Base, RH 82%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 186 cm Base, RH 72%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.9. 0.0 mm of Precip recorded

   As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud and unlimited visibility.


For the forecast, a weak warm front in a Westerly flow, will bring overcast skies and intermittent  light precipitation to the area in a Westerly flow. The freezing level will remain in the 1900 meter range with a bit of give on either side. FL should drop to around 1700 meters tonight.  A slightly stronger warm front moves on shore for Thursday afternoon, with light precipitation becoming moderate to heavy by Thursday night, with a FL hovering around 1600 meters in a Southwesterly flow. This front will slowly move through our zone into Friday morning, with the FL slowly descending from 1800 metes to 1200 meters by Friday night. As of now an upper trough will bring showery cooler weather to the area for Saturday with very light precipitation and an FL hovering in the 1100 meter range.  Yet another front is forecasted for Sunday. More on that one as we get closer. Hoping it will come in colder than is forecasted for at this time!!.  Guesstimates: 6-8 cm by Thursday morning above 1600 meters, 5-10 cm above 1500 meters by Friday morning, 15-20 cm above 1000 meters by Saturday morning. Some models are calling for higher freezing levels during this forecast period, I am being slightly optimistic, only time will tell? Latest model runs are showing less precipitation than was forecasted yesterday!!

    Southwest flow with a break at the end of the frontal passage.

    Clouds in the morning, overcast and light precipitation later in the morning.

    Another warm front for Thursday.

    Looking like way less precipitation for Friday in a cooler flow.

    Much cooler temperatures for Saturday with the chance of some very light snowfall.

    Looking into Monday and Tuesday it looks too much like a pineapple. Still time to change!!



ARTICLES:

Arctic tent may have saved soldiers life: Northern India

New platform developed by SLF to asses avalanche danger: ProNXD

Footage of soldier being recovered after 6 day burial: SunnySkye

Backcountry skier survives avalanche north of Pemberton on Sunday: Whistler Question
                                                                                                   

    High pressure yesterday with some stratus cloud in Georgia Strait.

    Big low in the North Pacific. Big picture yesterday around noon.

    Steeps on Fissile.

    Melt Freeze conditions again yesterday.

    A well balanced cat.

    Clouds were moving in from the West late Tuesday afternoon.

    Another awesome day in the mountains.

    Jersey Cream Chair.

February 9, 2016

    A soldier has been recovered under 7.62 M of debris, alive after 6 day burial-story below:    Net Pic

    Early Monday, February 8, 2016.

    Some cloud around in the morning.

    Cirrus and convective cloud yesterday morning.

    By mid morning it was a fantastic day.

    Cloud over Mount Currie yesterday morning.

    Large avalanche on Mount Currie around noon yesterday. Sz 3.5?

    Avalanche closures yesterday, 7 Th Heaven Express was closed yesterday afternoon!!

    Wet snow avalanche over the Lakeside Traverse yesterday afternoon. +3 at 2240 meters by 13:00.

    Some serious glaze on the snow yesterday. Melt freeze cycle again today.

    Sunset yesterday evening was officially at 17:16 Hrs.

Weather Observations for February 9, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    +6, Winds were 25-30 KPH SSE  --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    +8, Winds were 20-30 KPH S       --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   +11, Winds were 10-20 KPH ENE  --Rendevous
1835 meters   +11, Winds were 15-20 KPH ESE  --Roundhouse
1650 meters    +5, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 234 cm Base, RH 40%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    +7, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 188 cm Base                 --Catskinner 

  660 meters    +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +6.2. 0.5 mm of Precip recorded

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have broken cloud and unlimited visibility.

For the forecast, the upper level ridge will begin to move East later today with an offshore Easterly flow. The freezing level will be in the 3000 M + range for today with some broken cloud this morning,  sunny skies later this morning. Wednesday, a weak warm front moves onshore with overcast skies in a Southwesterly flow aloft with light precipitation. The freezing level should hover around 1900 meters. We will likely see a brief break in the precipitation on Thursday before another weak warm front moves onto the coast with light to moderate precipitation and an FL around 1800 meters. A wet, warm, windy front is expected for Friday morning with moderate to heavy precipitation and a FL hovering around 2000 meters, dropping to 1400 meters by the evening. Cooler temperatures are forecasted for Saturday. Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Thursday morning above 1700 meters, 5-10 cm for Friday morning above 1800 meters, 10-15 cm by Saturday morning above 1600 meters. The brunt of the precipitation will occur Thursday night into Friday morning with up to 50 mm expected.

    High pressure for today before a parade of warm fronts move into our zone.

    Wet flow from the Southern reaches of the Pacific for Wednesday

    Another warm system for Thursday.

     Hopefully it begins to cool down by Friday!!!

ARTICLES:

Buried under snow, found alive 6 days after Siachen Avalanche: Northern India

Body of one Siachen Avalanche victim found: Northern India

Marines and sailors conduct avalanche training in California: Digging Deep

Avalanche Fences didn't help in Hammerfest some children buried but unharmed: Norway

Family of skiers rescued from avalanche terrain by helicopter: Kamloops

    High pressure with some cloud in the morning, which dissipated as the day progressed.

    Ridge directing moisture to the North.

    Moisture stream from South of Hawaii.

    Natural avalanches observed on Overlord yesterday at around noon.

    Roof avalanche slipping off 7 Th Heaven Lift Hut. Impression from Lift roof.

    Eventually it slipped off the roof.

    Cornice noses will be very suspect today.

    Looking for some snacks.

    Another awesome day in the mountains.

February 8, 2016

    From South Coast Backcountry Touring, explanation below. Lauren Hughes text and picture.

Observed a size 2+ slide on a South facing slope North East above the Wendy Thompson Hut  yesterday at 1:00 pm. It was human triggered and the slope let go after the 12th member of that party skied it. There were two partial burials and one full burial. We were able to help locate and recover all members of their party. Search and Rescue was notified when we got back in reception near Pemberton. Stay safe!

    Early Sunday Morning, February 7, 2016.

    Sunday morning snowing lightly at 1860 meters, with no wind.

    Had a moist overcast look in the morning.

    Certainly less people than Saturday.

    Still found some nice snow and fresh tracks yesterday morning.

    Snow was feeling the temperature increase by noon.

    Inversion by the afternoon. 0 Deg at 2240 meters by 13:00 Hours, -1 at 1550 meters.


Weather Observations for February 8, 2016: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      0, Winds were 25-35 KPH S         --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters    +1, Winds were 30-35 KPH SSW   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters    +3, Winds were 15-25 KPH ESE    --Rendevous
1835 meters    +5, Winds were 10-20 KPH SSE    --Roundhouse
1650 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 238 cm Base, RH 100%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters    +3, 0 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hrs, 192 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.9. 1.2 mm of Precip recorded

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

For the forecast, dry and mild weather for today into Tuesday as a strong ridge builds over the Pacific Northwest. A westerly flow aloft will keep some clouds in the mix for today. The FL will rise today to 3200 + meters, peaking tonight than slowly descending to 2300 meters by Tuesday evening. The warm ridge will move East Wednesday morning allowing the first of a series of warm fronts to move onshore. Freezing levels on Wednesday will hover around 2000 meters with a bit of a dip in the evening. We could receive some snow by Thursday morning above 1700 meters. A strong wet, warm, windy system for Thursday with the FL allowing rain pretty much to the peaks of the local mountains. Do not even want to talk about Friday as the 3 W's will likely be in play. Saturday at this time is looking cooler.

    High pressure for Monday, with some cloud in the area.

    High pressure pushing low to the North.

    Westerly Flow Aloft Today.

    High pressure for Tuesday.  More sun than cloud. Warm front moves onshore Wednesday morning.


ARTICLES:

Coast Mountain Backcountry Report, February 7, 2016: Escape Route

Update on Size of the Avalanche in Austria, February 7, 2016: PraquePost

Climber "surfed" avalanche in 1000 Ft drop: Scotland

Conditions on Mount Renshaw were ripe for avalanche activity on Jan 30 Th: Avalanche Canada

Black diamond product recall on carabiners and quick draws: Subject to inspection

Avalanche course geared for snowmobilers takes place in Whistler: Global News

    Saturday morning, High slowly pushing in.

    High pressure to our South is Huge and Warm.

     Looks like the North Coast is in for a bit of a pineapple.

    As it warms up cornices may become an issue!!

    Tree skiing was still good yesterday morning.

    Good morning for the Parson's Cup.

    Much better race day than Saturday.

    There were some brief glimpses of sun yesterday morning.

    Ice will be melting in the next two days.

    Alexander Falls Sunday afternoon.