September 8, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    No new avalanche activity to report. Lots of snow in the Southern Hemisphere.

    Avalanche risk in Tasmania, story in article section below.                                           Net Pic



    PAST WEEK:

    Saturday morning September 2, 2017.

    Saturday evening, another awesome summer day.

    Sunday September 3, 2017.

    Awesome day for a hike on Sunday.

    Monday September 4, 2017. Smoke drifting in from the Northeast.

    Smoke thickened as the day progressed on September 4Th.

    More smoke Tuesday September 5, 2017.

    Smoke increased as the day progressed on Tuesday.

    Wednesday September 6, 2017. Thick smoke. Air Quality Advisory.

    Poor air quality all day Wednesday.

    Yellow ball Thursday morning.

    Thursday evening sun going down.


Weather Observations for September 8, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    +9, Winds were 10-20 KPH S --Horstman Hut
1860 meters  +11, Winds were   5-15 KPH SE--Rendevous
1550 meters  +11, RH 97%--Catskinner 

  660 meters  +16, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +24.9, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies and variable visibility.

    Friday morning, started raining in the alpine at around 10:00 Hrs.

FORECAST:

A weak upper trough will move through today in a Southerly flow aloft, eventually switching to Southwesterly. Cloudy weather for the next 2 days associated with a cooling trend. We should see some of the smoke clear out today with a weak cold front pushing through on Saturday. An upper level high pressure will rebuild on Sunday and bring dry warm weather into at least Wednesday of next week. As of now another trough is forecasted to arrive later in the week.

    There is some moisture in the air mass.

    Weak trough pushing through with some showers.

    Best chance of rain Saturday as a weak Pacific front pushes through.

    High rebuilds Sunday into Monday.

     Battle of the High and Low will continue.

    Looking nice for Tuesday, should see some clouds in the mix.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11 UPDATE:

Some inconsistencies in the models but unsettled weather for the next few days. The low and associated atmospheric river to the North will slide South where the weak high seems to be loosing
ground. The ridge should build for today.  We will likely see a weak upper trough for Tuesday with a mix of sun and cloud in a northwesterly flow aloft. The ridge may gain some strength by Thursday into the weekend, or may not. A delicate balancing act will unfold, flip a coin!

    GOES image from Monday morning. High is building for today.

    Upper trough for Tuesday.

    Upper trough settles over the area into Thursday.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Saturday evening, high in the valley was +30.5 Deg.

    Still some flowers in the alpine but the heat has been hard on them. Sunday Morning.

    Blue bird on Sunday, High in the valley of +31.8 Deg.

    Quiet day in the park Monday afternoon.

    Alta Lake on Monday, high in the valley was + 33.1 Deg.

    Offshore flow with an Easterly influence brought more smoke to the valley Tues. High of +27.7.

    Alpha Mountain shrouded in smoke on Tuesday.

    Despite the air quality lots of people out and about. High of +28.9 on Wednesday.

    Thursday morning Green Lake.



VIDEO FRIDAY:

Backcoutry Skiing in South America: Bariloche

Its been snowing in Australia: Perisher



ARTICLES:

Heavy snowfall increasing avalanche risk in Australia: Victorian Alps

Resort Uphill Skiing Code of Ethics and Guidelines: Backcountry Skiing Blog

High avalanche hazard in many parts of : New Zealand

Avalanche potential at Mount Mawson: Tasmania

Unravelling a major cause of sea ice retreat in the Arctic Ocean: Science Daily

Small Himalayan glaciers are sensitive to climate change: India

Special Air Quality Advisory for Whistler: Environment Canada

September 1, 2017

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    In bounds avalanche in Chile, story in article section                                         Victor Vera Image


    PAST WEEK:

    Saturday morning August 26, 2017.

    Sunday August 27, 2017. A great day to be on the water.

    Monday morning August 28, 2017. Smoke appearing to the North.

    Lower Joffre Lake Sunday afternoon. +36.8 Deg in Pemberton on Monday. +34.1 in Whistler.

    Smoke from the Squamish Fire on Tuesday morning, perhaps some from Washington State also.

    Smoke dissipated at the end of the day on Tuesday.

    Wednesday morning August 30, 2017. Sunrise was at 06:24 Hours.

    Weak cold front moving across Vancouver Island Wednesday morning 07:45 Hours.

    16:00 Hrs Wednesday afternoon, cloudy with a few intermittent rain drops.

    Thursday morning August 31, 2017. Sunrise was at 06:24 Hrs.

    Friday September 1, 2017. 06:30 Hrs.



Weather Observations for September 1, 2017 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2000 meters  +10, Winds were 15-30 KPH SW--Top of T-Bar Whistler
1860 meters    +9, Winds were 15-20 KPH SE--Rendevous
1550 meters    +8, RH 72%--Catskinner 

  660 meters  +11, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +24.5, 0.0 mm of Precip recorded yest

FORECAST:

A large upper level ridge will dominate the weather pattern over the weekend into the middle of next week. A few clouds around this morning in a Westerly flow aloft. Models are swaying towards the ridge breaking down by next Thursday.

    Broad upper level ridge will dominate the weather pattern into next week.

    High strengthens on Saturday.

    Ridge remains just South of Southern BC with warm temperatures

    Models are indicating the high pressure will prevail into Thursday of next week.

Monday September 4, 2017 Update:

The strong upper level ridge will continue to bring warm temperatures to our area into Tuesday.
The ridge is forecasted to shift East on Wednesday with a change in the pattern for Thursday into next weekend. That was an amazing run of nice weather!!

    Clouds will begin to push onshore on Wednesday.

    Moisture expected for Thursday into Friday.

    Looking moist for the weekend.

OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Blue Bird on Saturday. Max temp in the valley was + 27.0 Deg.

    Saturday August 26, 2017. High pressure growing. Surface high drifting in from the South.

    Big picture Aleutian low is helping with the fire situation in Northern BC.

    Crescent moon over the Tantalus Range Saturday evening.

    No wind, High of +32.3 in the valley Sunday afternoon. Whistler Sailing Club Regatta.

    Enough wind later Sunday afternoon for approximately 50 sailboats to compete in the Regatta.

    Forest Fire in Squamish, click here for article on Human Caused Wildfire                          Net Pic

    Seracs above Upper Joffre Lake.

    Very busy middle lake at Joffre Lake Provincial Park on Monday.

    Upper Lake was very busy as well.

    Fires in Washington State can be seen on Satellite image from Tuesday afternoon.

    Southerly flow, fires in Washington, Oregon, & California.

    Mount Fee shrouded in smoke Tuesday afternoon. High in the valley was +31.8 Deg.

    Cloudy on Wednesday with some isolated showers. High in the valley was +24.9 Deg.

    A mix of sun and cloud in the corridor on Thursday.



VIDEO FRIDAY:

Rock slide footage above Bondo: Piz Cenaglo

Clip from rock slide in Switzerland: Bondo


ARTICLES:

In Bounds avalanche in Chile: Nevados De Chillan

Avalanche Problems: Varsom.no

Alps melting?: BBC News

Risk of mountainside collapse closes Mt Cook Hut: New Zealand

How will human forced climate change affect the Pacific Northwest: Cliff Mass