29 Jan 2018

January 29, 2018


    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche on Mount Ara, in Armenia has killed a mountaineer. Story in article section. Net Pic

    Locally, Sz 1-1.5 soft slabs Xe Sc with AC. Touchy soft slabs Sc Sz 1.5 in the afternoon. 30-50 cm.


   YESTERDAY:

    Snowing 3 cm per hour Sunday morning.

    Early opening then the winds ramped up!!

    Storm skiing!!!

    Great turns in the alpine when you could get them.

    Eventually the winds and snow loading shut the alpine down.

    Nester's weather station Sunday at 18:30 hrs, still dumping..

    Big load on the roof!!

    Sunday afternoon, dumping in Whistler!

    Yes, that is an atmospheric river!!!!


Weather Observations for January 29, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -2, Winds were 100-135 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -1, Winds were    20-60 KPH SE --Roundhouse
1660 meters    +1, 26 cm of new, 45 cm in 24 hrs  Base 326 cm --Pig Alley
  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +0.5, ? mm of precip recorded yest


    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility , and it is snowing 3 cm per hr

FORECAST:

An active front will slowly migrate Southeastward today in a strong Southwest flow aloft. The freezing level will slowly begin to drop down to 800 meters by tonight and was at 1700 meters early this am. Winds have been strong with 100-128 KPH from the SE at 05:00 Hrs this am. A trailing cold front will push through this afternoon/evening with cooler temperatures. Tuesday, a Westerly flow aloft will bring a cool showery pattern with the FL  hovering in the 700 meter range. Overcast skies with light snowfall, unsettled by Tuesday night. Wednesday could be a mixed bag, with unsettled weather in the morning, overcast and light snow pushing in for the afternoon. As of now looks like another warm front for Thursday, more on that as we get closer.
Guesstimates: 25-40 cm by Tuesday morning above 1700 meters, 10-15 cm by Wednesday morning, 5-15 cm by Thursday morning.

   GOES IR image this am.


    Low and high merging for a warm, wet, and windy day.

    Monday morning.

    Later today.


    Fronts along the coast.

    Looking like a nice winter day for Tuesday after the deluge!!


    OBSERVATIONS & INFORMATION:

    Soft slabs in the morning, bigger as the day went on.

    Snow became clumpier as the day progressed mid mountain.

    Great skiing in the morning.

    Warm mid mountain, +0.5 Deg C at 1650 meters at 14:00 Hrs yesterday.

    As of 14:00 hrs yest 17 cm at Catskinner weather plot. 241 cm. 19 cm at Pig Alley 314 cm.

    Snowed 3cm per hour from 06:00 to 14:00 Sunday, continued into the evening.

    Nester's weather station, 660 meters Sunday evening. Snowing to the valley.

    GOES IR image at 21:00 Hrs Sunday. Lots of moisture just North of us.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Rports:

Hollyburn Near-Miss

Brohm Ridge


ARTICLES:

An avalanche has killed a mountaineer on Mount Ara in Armenia: Azerbaijan

Ski resorts shut down as rain creates avalanche risk: Wahington State

Schweitzer Ski Patrol controls large avalanche, Thursday: Idaho

Record number of avalanche blasts in Switzerland: Swissinfo

28 Jan 2018

January 28, 2018


    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Locally, avalanche control produced Sz 1-1.5 soft slabs--Xe, Xr, Xt, Sc. Touchy soft slabs!



   YESTERDAY:

    Snowing in the valley Saturday morning.

    Overcast and snowing Saturday morning into early afternoon.

    Snow conditions are awesome.

    Eventually stopped snowing.

    Icing conditions in the afternoon. Had to clean the goggles every 2 minutes!!

    Unsettled later in the afternoon.

    Nice light at days end.

    Saturday afternoon, breaks on the way.

    Saturday's big picture. Looks like a very wet system heading our way.


Weather Observations for January 28, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -7, Winds were 60-75 KPH ESE--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -5, Winds were 10-25 KPH SE   --Roundhouse
1660 meters     -5, 3 cm of new, 13 cm in 24 hrs  Base 301 cm --Pig Alley
  660 meters     -1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +0.8, 0.2 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 hr.



FORECAST:

A warm front is pushing through today and stalling into Monday in a moist Southerly flow aloft.
The freezing level will rise to 1800 meters by tonight as the atmospheric river event  pushes through with strong winds and heavy precipitation. Storm continues on Monday with a cold front bringing cooler temperatures by the afternoon. Cooler and showery weather is expected Tuesday into Wednesday. Possibility of some unsettled weather for Wednesday, more on that as we get closer.

Guesstimates: 35-50 cm above 1700 meters by Monday morning, 25-35 cm by Tuesday morning,
10-15 cm by Wednesday morning.


    GOES IR image from this am.


         Big low to the Northwest will send an atmospheric river our way today. 

    Warm front on the way!!

    Plume of moisture already on the coast.

    Fronts on the coast today.

    Cooler on Monday.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Deep snow in the Gunbarrels.

    Sign at the bottom of the Harmony Chair.

    Loose snow was flowing down the steeper pitches.

   We have received 150 cm of snow in the past 7 days.

    Snow is deep.

       It just keeps on growing.

    There is alot of snow right down to the valley.

From South Coast Touring:

   
Matt Gunn
January 27 at 11:14pm
Great snow quality in the musical bumps. Given the avi forecast we kept to very mellow terrain and old growth timber protected from any wind affect. We did not see any signs of instability where we skied. Singing pass trail exit is in amazing shape.

Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

January 22-27, 2018

Heartstrings



ARTICLES:

High risk of avalanches o North Shore Mountains this weekend: North Shore News

Mt Baker Ski area will be closed Sunday & Monday due to avalanche danger: Washington State

Major danger of avalanche in many places: Norway

Snowmobiler survives avalanche on Logan Peak: Utah

Storm warning for: Whistler

Avalanche warning issued for Mount Hood: Oregon

3 involved in Friday avalanche near Solitude are experienced backcountry skiers: Utah