January 4, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche in Italy has killed 2 people. Story in article section.                                     Net Pic

    An avalanche has killed a hiker in Switzerland. Story below.                                              Net Pic

    Locally, No new avalanche activity noted for yesterday.



    YESTERDAY:

    Blue bird in the morning.

    Snow in the trees (valley) with inverted temperatures.

    Cord on Horstman Glacier. Skied well yesterday

    Spring like skiing on the Sewar.

    Lots of turns on Decker.

    Bluebird at the end of the day.



Weather Observations for January 4, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters    +2, Winds were 15-20 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters    +4, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1660 meters      0, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 179 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters     -9, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -1.3, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

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



FORECAST:

A weak front will eventually bring cloudy skies to the area today as a low pressure centre off the Southwest Coast brings a Southerly flow aloft. Freezing rain is possible later today in the valley with the freezing level slowly dropping from 2200 meters to 1800 meters by tonight. A slightly stronger cold front arrives Friday morning with light/moderate precipitation, the FL will slowly descend during the day from 2000 meters to around 1500 meters. Some snow in the forecast for Saturday with the FL eventually dropping to around 900 meters. More snow expected Sunday into Monday but the models are all over the map so more on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 2-4 mm with 2 cm in the alpine by Friday morning,  8-12 cm by Saturday morning with 6-8 mm proceeding the snow, 4-6 cm by Sunday morning, 10-15 cm by Monday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

     Low will send a warm weak front at us today.

    Freezing rain later in the day is possible.

    Fronts along the coast today.

   Rain expected on Friday, slowly changing back to snow.





    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Tracks & Sastrugi.

    Surface Hoar developing at 900 meters.

    Thin crust with surface hoar in the valley.

    Still cold in the valley.

    Surface Hoar just below treeline.

    Busy out in the backcountry, Cowboy Ridge is looking well used.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Blackcomb>Mt Currie Traverse


From South Coast Touring:

Mystrey Creek



ARTICLES:

German mother, daughter killed in Italy avalanche: Val Verosta

An avalanche has killed a hiker near the resort of Kandersteg: Switzerland

Large avalanche near Turnagain Pass simply misses pair of skiers: Alaska

Helicopters toss turkey-sized explosives to combat avalanches: Colorado

Freezing rain warning issued for later today: Whistler

January 3, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    No new avalanche activity observed locally.

    An avalanche has killed a snowmobiler near West Yellowstone. Story in article section.  Net Pic



    YESTERDAY:

    Moon setting Tuesday morning.

    Nice colours early in the morning.

    Overcast for most of the day.

    A grey day.

    Dark sky near the end of the day with some isolated rain showers.


Weather Observations for January 3, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters    +1, Winds were 0-5 KPH NW--Whistler Peak
1835 meters    +1, Winds were 0-5 KPH NE--Roundhouse
1660 meters     -1, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 180 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters   -10, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -4.8, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

  As of 07:00 hrs we have clear skies and unlimited visibility. Some scattered high cloud in the distance.

FORECAST:

High pressure aloft will strengthen today with mostly sunny skies in a low level offshore flow. We can expect warm temperatures today with the freezing level maxing out at around 2400 meters. Will likely see some cloud development later today. A weak front will move in from the southwest Thursday morning with overcast conditions and light precipitation. The FL will slowly drop to 1700 meters by Thursday night. A more vigorous warm front moves in for Friday with moderate precipitation and the FL hovering in the 2000 meter range. A series of fronts will push through into Monday with light precipitation and the FL should begin to cooperate by Saturday into Sunday with some of the snow reaching the valley. More on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 1-3 mm by Friday morning (snow above 1500 m), 5-8 cm by Saturday morning above 1500 meters with 10-15 mm of rain as well, 4-8 cm by Sunday morning.

    Mostly a sunny day.

    Warm temperatures from the high.

    Looking like a nice day over Whistler.

    Frontal Bands.

    Clouds moving in for Thursday.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Snow was still ok in the morning but warm temperatures in the alpine changed that.

    Warm moist snow on South aspects at tree line and above. Greenhouse affect under the cloud.

    Max temp at 2240 meters yesterday was + 2.6, at 1860 meters it was +6.6.

    Upper level cloud eventually dropped onto the higher peaks.

    Yesterday afternoon.

    Big picture yesterday.


From South Coast Touring:

Tobias C. Van Veen January 2 at 1:42pm

Thought I’d mention we saw a fresh size 2 natural off the lower Decker / Trorey ridge at treeline yesterday, sun exposed & S/SW facing. Crown line looked to be 50cm+ with shears exposing rock. Ryan MacDonald January 2 at 9:43am We witnessed a size 3-4 release on the east side of Phelix Creek yesterday, around 2:30pm. It's pretty reactive above the tree line up there. Mitchell Sulkers January 3 at 5:53am Significant greenhousing occurring on Tuesday in the Spearhead Range. Snow surfaces were moist to 2400m on southern aspects and on all aspects from 2100m down. True polar aspects still skiing well at higher elevations. No pinwheeling or loose wet observed from 2100m up, but some pinwheeling and very moist snow over colder loose snow below. This made for tricky skinning. If today's forecast comes through with sunshine and highs to 7C in the area, stability can be expected to decrease, especially on solar aspects.  We found no significant sheers in the recent storm snow or above the 171215 melt-freeze crust, however some of the resistant layers in the recent storm snow could be activated by direct sunlight if surfaces go wet Recent reports from Avalanche Canada MIN network:

Hanging Lake


ARTICLES:

A snowmobiler has been killed in an avalanche near West Yellowstone: Montana

Report on above avalanche from Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center: GNFAC

Lack of mountain snow creates more avalanche danger: Utah

Avalanche buried skier rescued by partner: Panorama

CAIC recieved 132 avalanche reports over past week: Colorado

January 2, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche in Switzerland has killed a snowshoer: story in article section.              Net Pic

    If you are caught skiing in a permanently closed area you loose mountain access for 1 year.

    Wet loose snow releases on solar aspects.

    Last storm produced many wind slabs.

    YESTERDAY:

    High cirrus early Monday morning.

    Mix of sun & cloud most of the day, but mostly sunny.

    Sun going down.

    After sunset.


Weather Observations for January 2, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters    +1, Winds were 20-30 KPH E  --Whistler Peak
1835 meters    +4, Winds were   5-10 KPH SE--Roundhouse
1660 meters     -1, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs  Base 183 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters   -12, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -5.4, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 06:30 hrs this am we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.

FORECAST:

The upper ridge will bring unsettled conditions today as it weakens with an Easterly low level flow. The freezing level will top out at around 2400 meters. Wednesday is looking mostly sunny. Thursday will usher in a weak warm upper level trough which will bring mostly cloudy skies into Friday. Models are inconsistent as we approach the weekend but looks like we may see unsettled weather for Saturday & Sunday.
Guesstimates: trace-2cm above 1660 meters by Friday morning, 4-8 cm by Saturday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

     Warm again today with inverted temperatures.

    Unsettled.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Mild temperatures again on Wednesday.




   INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Still cold temperatures in the valley.

    Point releases on solar aspects.

    Man made snow.

    Just before sunset. Sunrise yesterday was at 08:11 Hrs & Sunset was at 16:20 Hrs.

    Yesterday afternoon.

    Super moon last night.


Recent reports from Avalanche Canada MIN Network:

Chief Pascal Shoulder

Sky Pilot



ARTICLES:

A snowshoer has been killed by an avalanche in Kandersteg: Switzerland

Update on Wyoming avalanche: Salt River Range

Richardson Hwy closed due to avalanche: Valdez, AK

Whitefish Mountain issues statement after snowboarders death: Montana

Full Moon January 1, 2018: Full Wolf Moon