March 23, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Locally, Sc Sz 1 10-30 cm soft slabs, several Sa Sz 1 on steep lee terrain, yesterday.


    YESTERDAY:

    Snow line was at 1300 meters Wednesday March 22, 2017.

    Visibility was challenging at times.

    Another warm moist day in the valley.

    Snowing at 1860 meters Wednesday morning.

    Wednesday morning, snowing 2 cm per hr, at 09:15 Hrs.

    A brief break in the morning.

    Snowed most of the day.

    Big picture at 15:30 Hrs, looks like some recirculation!!

    Cloud cover was producing, but thin at times.

    Snowing at 1000 meters yesterday--17:00 hours .



Weather Observations for March 23, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -5, Winds were 25-50 KPH S--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 35-55 KPH S--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -6, Winds were 25-35 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 15-40 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -4, 20 cm of new snow, 25 in 24 hrs, 324 cm Base, RH 89%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -4, 12 cm of new snow, 18 in 24 hrs, 240 cm Base, RH 94 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.3, 8.9 mm of Precip recorded yest

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


FORECAST:

We can expect a mostly overcast morning before the next frontal band moves into the area later today in a Southwesterly flow aloft. We should see some light precipitation in the morning, drying for this afternoon and intensifying by this evening with the FL hovering around 1200 meters by this afternoon. An upper trough will move into our zone for Friday with more precipitation and a FL rising to 1400 meters. Saturday is looking mostly cloudy as well with some breaks expected in the evening, we should see a drier air mass. Sunday at this time is looking unsettled but conflicting models do not instill much confidence in the forecast beyond Saturday. It does look like a series of weather systems are on the way for next week.
Guesstimates: 10-15 cm by Friday morning, 15-20 cm by Saturday morning, 4-6 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Next frontal band will arrive later today.

   Overcast this am with more snow on the way.

More precipitation on Friday.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

Simon Warhurst March 22 at 9:06pm

Re Van Horlick access. We finished loading and hauling on Tuesday, so there will be no more maintenance on the road until the summer. Please plan your access accordingly. Thanks to most people for the cooperation in sharing the road. My apologies to some people who've sent me personal facebook messages over the last month- I'm not good at this medium so haven't realized the messages are there. Hope you have a great spring ski season. Channel Crk was fabulous on Sunday.

    Out of Bounds avalanche in Blackcomb Glacier Sunday Pm. Click for CTV NEWS Story        Net Pic

   Catskinner weather plot, 1550 meters-8 cm from 06:00-14:00 Hrs.

    235 cm as of 14:00 Hrs March 22, 2017 at 1550 meters.

    Moist snow at Catskinner Weather Plot.

    Snowing in the trees.


ARTICLES:

Fernie athlete experiences skiers worst nightmare-Sz 3: Golden, B.C.

Low Probability, High Consequences: Avalanche Canada

Footage from Corona Avalanche Incident: Twitter

Three men struck by an avalanche in West Fjords: Iceland

Avalanche closes Casper Bowl on Sunday: Jackson Hole

A veteran snow maker on the future of skiing: Powder

March 22, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Low angle stiff Na slab just outside the ski area boundary in Ziggy's Meadow.

    Likely occurred 36-48 hours ago.

    75 cm stiff slab chunk. No new avalanches observed yesterday, snowballing in the afternoon.


    YESTERDAY:

    Snowing in the morning. Tuesday morning March 21, 2017. Nice way to start spring.

    Tuesday morning

    1 centimetre in the morning.

    Tuesday morning.

    Some breaks at around 12:30 Hours.

    Looking North at the sucker hole.

    Looking South at the approaching warm air mass.

    Big Picture Tuesday Afternoon.

    Snowing at 16:30 hrs.

    Unsettled later in the afternoon.


Weather Observations for March 22, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -1, Winds were 40-60 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -3, Winds were 35-50 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -2, Winds were 15-35 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -1, Winds were 20-40 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1650 meters       0, 4 cm of new snow, 5 cm in 24 hrs, 309 cm Base, RH 92%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters       0, 3 cm of new snow, 4 cm in 24 hrs, 231 cm Base, RH 98 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.8, 2.3 mm of Precip recorded yest

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


FORECAST:

A low pressure system off the coast will move through our zone today in a Southwesterly flow aloft. We should see light/moderate snowfall this morning intensifying later in the day to moderate/heavy snowfall through the night. The FL will start at around 1700 meters dropping to surface by this evening with strong winds associated with the passing of the low. Difficult to put an amount on the snowfall but with convective activity we could see some surprising amounts. Another frontal band for Thursday with light/moderate snowfall and the FL maxing out at around 1400 meters dropping to 1000 meters by Thursday night. A weaker system for Friday with light snow in the morning becoming moderate by the afternoon with the FL hovering in the 1200 meter zone. Unsettled weather is forecasted for Saturday into Sunday. Guesstimates: 15-35 cm by Thursday morning, 5-25 cm by Friday morning, 15-25 cm by Saturday morning.

    GOES IR image for this am.

   Wednesday morning, convective clouds could bring heavy snow.

    Fairly strong low moving through today.

      Precipitation amounts with convective activity will be difficult to nail.

                    Thursday into Friday.

    Looking like a weaker system for Friday.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Moist in the valley later in the morning. Great snow up til this time in the am.

    Wind affect on some aspects in the alpine.

    Looks warm and moist.

    Be aware of extensive cornice debris in all the bowls.

    Under Regulator cornice.

    0 Deg in the afternoon at 2240 meters.

   By the end of the week there may be just a boom.


ARTICLES:

Tignes Carline Avalanche Video: Pistehors.com

Footage of an avalanche hitting Odda: Norway

Low Probability-High Consequences-Conditions update: SkiingGolden.com

The incredible power of an avalanche: Sunshine Village

Size 3.5+ avalanche in Washington STATE: Northwest Avalanche Center

March 21, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Old natural avalanche activity.

    Some point releases from Saturday. Locally some Sz 1 Sa ssl. No avalanche control yesterday.


    YESTERDAY:

    Very early Monday morning march 20, 2017.

    Cool light in Pemberton.

    Just after opening.

    Monday morning.

    Steep terrain.

    Big air off a serac.

    Big picture Monday afternoon.

    Got milky just after noon yesterday.

    High overcast over Whistler.

Weather Observations for March 21, 2017: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -2, Winds were 25-40 KPH SE--Horstman Hut 
2180 meters      -2, Winds were 30-45 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -2, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters      -5, Winds were 10-20 KPH NE--Roundhouse
1650 meters      -3, trace of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 308 cm Base, RH 82%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters      -3, trace of new snow, trace in 24 hrs, 230 cm Base, RH 78 %  --Catskinner 

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +7.3, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

FORECAST:

A weak warm low will be pushing mostly overcast skies into the area today in a Southwesterly flow aloft. We will likely see some very light snowfall in the upper elevations, the FL is expected to go to 1600+ meters today-dropping to 1200 meters tonight. A slightly stronger front arrives tonight/ Wednesday with light/moderate snowfall above 1200 meters with the FL hovering in the 1400 meter range dropping to the surface by Wednesday night. As eries of frontal bands of various intensity are expected into the weekend. Should see a change Saturday with nicer weather for Sunday.
Guesstimates: 5-10 cm by Wednesday morning, 10-20 cm by Thursday morning, 10-15 cm by Friday morning.

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

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Low off the coast will be the weather producer for a few days.

    Weak front for today with the chance of some unsettled weather this evening.

    Slightly stronger front for Wednesday.



OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Early morning high scattered cloud.

    A cool looking cornice.

    Slope Test. No result.

    Snow was not as reactive yesterday.

    Old larger avalanche in the Joffre area.                                                              Holly Walker Image



ARTICLES:

March 2017 Low Probability-High Consequences Avalanche cycle: Avalanche Canada

Swiss Mountain guide investigated over deadly Austrian Avalanche: Innsbruck

Missing Dutch snow boarder found dead two weeks after avalanche: French Alps

Avalanche at WB caused by out of bounds skiers: CTV News

Video and Photo Challenge: Mountain Sledder

Housing in avalanche terrain a concern: Arctic Journal