February 4, 2017

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche in Babakhshan, Afghanistan has killed 10 people, story in article section.   Net Pic

    Locally no new avalanches observed, surface sluffing to Sz 1 on steep lee terrain.




    YESTERDAY:

    Started to snow at 08:15 Hours Friday February 3, 2017.

    On an exceptional year you can ski up onto this rock.

    Snowing in the valley Saturday morning.

    Sun was visible at times through the thin cloud layer.

    Snow eased in the afternoon but picked up again in the evening.

    Big Picture Friday. How will the 2 lows meld?

    There was some fine skiing off piste and on.

    Overall another great day in the mountains.


Weather Observations for February 4, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -7, Winds were 30-40 KPH SE   --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters     -7, Winds were 35-45 KPH SE   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   -13, Winds were   5-10 KPH NW   --Rendevous
1835 meters   -13, Winds were 10-20 KPH ENE--Roundhouse
1650 meters   -13, 21 cm of new snow, 28 cm in 24 hrs, 232 cm Base, RH 88%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters   -13, 17 cm of new snow, 24 cm in 24 hrs, 158 cm Base, RH 88%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     -7, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -6.5, 3.7 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility and it is snowing 1 cm per hour.



FORECAST:

A cold upper level low will bring light snow to the area today in a strong Southwest flow. The FL will remain below surface and we should see an increase in the snowfall by this evening. An upper trough will bring some light snow to the area Sunday morning but the Arctic high strengthens on Sunday pushing the low enough to bring some unsettled weather by Sunday afternoon. Cool unsettled weather will prevail early next week with the occasional flurry. As of now a warm front will move onto the coast Wednesday night with heavy snowfall into Thursday but with a rising FL. Looking like Thursday will be a storm day.
Guesstimates: 25-35 cm by Sunday morning, 2-6 cm by Monday morning?

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Looking like some decent precip amounts for today.

    Overcast and snow into Sunday.

    Unsettled conditions likely by Sunday afternoon.

    A mix of sun and cloud with cool weather for Monday.




OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

   Freestyle competition on Blackcomb Friday.

    Snowy but a great venue.

    By noon the snow was accumulating.

    Steeps were skiing well yesterday.

    Smooth conditions for most of the alpine terrain.

   Dry light snow to the valley.


ARTICLES:

10 killed by an avalanche in Badakhshan: Afghanistan

Avalanche kills 3, injures 2 in Tehran: Northern Iran

Backcountry User Instruction Course: Colorado

Moose buried in an avalanche: Alaska

As army battles avalanche deaths, a new system is needed to predict avalanches: India

February 3, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

   An avalanche near Mobarakabad, Iran has claimed 3 lives-Story in article section.        Net Pic

    Old Fracture line in Pooh Basin.

    No new avalanche activity locally, except below image. Lots of redistributed snow.

     Sz 1.0 Sr 10m 170201 Phalynx                                                  Submitted by Anton Horvath.

YESTERDAY:

    Early morning light Thursday February 2, 2017.

    Ideal temperatures for making snow.

    Winds in the alpine were strong in the morning, eased off by the afternoon.

    Conditions were smooth and chalky in the bowls where the snow was blown in.

    Late Thursday morning.

    Big picture Thursday afternoon, low will be moving up the coast by tomorrow am.

    Another awesome day.

    Some cloud to the South as the low slowly moved in.

    Whistler Mountain later in the day.


Weather Observations for February 3, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters   -7, Winds were 10-20 KPH SE   --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters   -4, Winds were 20-25 KPH SE   --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   -8, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE   --Rendevous
1835 meters   -6, Winds were   5-10 KPH SSW--Roundhouse
1650 meters   -8, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 208 cm Base, RH 59%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters   -8, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 137 cm Base, RH 53%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters -10, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +3.6, trace mm of Precip recorded yest

We have an inversion!!

   As of 07:00 hrs this am we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.


FORECAST :

A weakening warm front will bring overcast skies and light snowfall to the area this morning in a Southwesterly flow aloft. An upper level low to the south is also weakening and will bring light to moderate snowfall by this afternoon, becoming heavy later in the day. The low to the North which looked like it had potential for some heavy snow over the weekend may send most of its precipitation South. We will still see frontal bands move through the area with less precipitation as forecasted a few days ago. Model solutions are still waffling for early next week but it looks like it will remain cold with some unsettled weather. The FL will remain at or below surface over the weekend. Guesstimates: 20-30? cm by Saturday morning, 20-30 cm by Sunday morning, 20-30 cm by Monday morning.

   Warm front Friday morning, cold front fpor later in the day.

    Looking snowy for Saturday.

   Storm day for Sunday. Models are still not sure about Sunday!!

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Wind affected snow.

    In places the snow has been stripped down to the January rain crust.

   Snow stripped off Dean's Adieu area of the up track.

    Lost Lake is looking smooth.


VIDEO FRIDAY;

Avalanche on Ajax Peak: Telluride

Avalanche mitigation in Alaska: Jan 26, 2017

2 Minute heated emergency shelter: You Tube

WYDOT triggers avalanche: What about the critters??



ARTICLES:

Avalanche claims 3 lives in North Iran: Tehran

Avalanches in Dushanbe-Khujand: Tajikistan

Canadian Ski Patrols take on Guinness Record--Snow Angels: Saturday Feb 4, 2017

The rule for these Dogs--Let them do their mission Fast: Colorado

Army was warned of Avalanches in Kashmir: India

February 2, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Wind slabs from reverse loading will be an issue. Locally no new avalanche activity observed.

    YESTERDAY:

    Early Wednesday morning, February 1, 2017.

    Skier cross Wednesday on Blackcomb.

    Carving hard.

    Spindrift below the moon.

    Wednesday morning.

    Winds in the alpine, 35-85 KPH East -Northeast most of the day.

    Ipsoot Wednesday afternoon.

    Spindrift to the South later in the day.

    Sunset was at 17:05.


Weather Observations for February 2, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters   -12, Winds were 25-55 KPH E       --Horstman Hut 
2180 meters   -12, Winds were 15-25 KPH ENE  --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   -13, Winds were 10-15 KPH WNW--Rendevous
1835 meters   -14, Winds were   5-20 KPH SSW --Roundhouse
1650 meters   -14, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 208 cm Base, RH 72%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters   -13, 0 cm of new snow, 0 cm in 24 hrs, 137 cm Base, RH 56%  --Catskinner 

  660 meters   -11, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -1.1, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs we have clear skies and unlimited visibility.


FORECAST:

High pressure aloft will break down today as a weakening warm front moves into the area later today, the flow will switch from Northerly this morning to Southerly later in the day. The FL will remain below surface for today and into Friday. A weak frontal band will push through Friday morning slowly gaining strength as the day progresses. By Saturday a vigorous impulse will bring heavy snow and the FL will remain near the surface.The storm intensifies for Sunday with heavy snow. We could easily get from 80-180 cm of new snow by Tuesday depending on how the low treats us over the weekend.
Guesstimates: 20-25 cm by Saturday morning, 25-40 cm by Sunday morning, 40-60 cm by Monday morning. Let it snow let it snow let it snow!!!!

    Another clear day, likely some cloud development.

    One more day of nice weather, rex block will deteriorate.

    Front will slowly move into the area early Friday morning, intensifying through the day. 

   Southerly flow for Friday.

   Steady precipitation for Saturday.

    Heavy precipitation for Sunday.

   Steady precipitation for Monday as well.

    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Steep Creek conditions report from Jeff Van Driel below.                                   Jeff Van Driel Pic

Plenty of tracks and slope tests in Steep Creek on Duffey Lake Road today. 

Snowpack

Surface hoar 5-10mm in sheltered locations. East winds redistributing surface snow with reverse loading. Variable surfaces include hardslab, softslab, crust, wind press and low density snow. January 29 surface hoar down 15cm and reactive in snowpack tests. The December facets continue to slowly settle and gain strength. Shallow rocky terrain remains suspect. Test pit at 1975m on a north aspect snow depth 220cm produced CTE 1 sudden planar  down 15cm on surface hoar 4-6mm below a thin crust. 

The main concerns are redistributed snow creating isolated and buried windslab size 1-2 as well as shallow rocky terrain propagating on facets to produce up to size 3.5 avalanches. Low probability, high consequence. 

Weather

Cold arctic outflow persisted today. -12, clear, light easterly winds. Looked like much higher winds in the Joffre group. Snow was pluming off the ridges there all day. No new avalanches observed. 

Ski conditions

The alpine has the above mentioned highly variable snow conditions, whereas sheltered areas treeline and below still hold great skiing. 

Cheers 

Jeff

   Steep Creek area.                                                                                    Jeff Van Driel Pic

Thomas Rozsypalek February 1 at 3:55pm

Today on Cayoosh I saw the exact thing most people including my self go into the mountains to get away from.  The first one wasn't that big of a deal- some guy were down by Birdys cabin shooting their gun off. There are other places to go shoot your gun than a busy area for ski touring.  The second was someone took a crap not even a meter from a skin track and did bury their poop. When you take a shit in the mountains you bury it and no covering it with an inch of snow does not count.  Rant over

   

Erik Mauer February 1 at 1:02pm
Steep skiing up near wedgemount yesterday, lots of touchy 5-10 cm 4F wind slabs out there even in "usually" protected areas that can carry you a long way down.     Near Country Wednesday.                                                                                       Paul Weitz Pic     Stairmaster                                                                                                           Paul Weitz Pic

Wind blown man made snow.

    Wind blown natural snow.

    Some cool snow formations on the glacier.

    Snow makers were loving the temps.


ARTICLES:

List of recent near misses in B.C.: Avalanche Canada

Alberta Government extends avalanche safety funding: Calgary Hearld

Avalanche victims "died of impact" not hypothermia: Italy

Avalanche forecasters keep motorists safe on snowy pass: Snoqualmie Pass

Develop an Avalanche Safety Plan to protect workers in Backcountry areas: OHSInsider

Coal Mine dust lowers spectral reflectance of Arctic Snow by 84 %: Science Daily

Weather making for prime Montana avalanche conditions: Missoula