March 27, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Locally, AC produced Sz 1-1.5 Xe, Sc, Xc.

    Recent Sc near Squamish on Sunday, check out MIN report below.                           Jim Image



    YESTERDAY:

    Light snow in the valley Monday morning.

    Overcast and light snow in the alpine.

    Yesterday afternoon at 1835 meters, -3 with 25-45 KPH winds S.

    Visibility was challenging in the alpine at times.

    Hard to see in the alpine.

    Good turns to be had if you could work your way into the chutes.

    Moist snow at the lower elevations, High of +3 in the valley yesterday.

    Monday afternoon.

    Big picture on Monday.


Weather Observations for March 27, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -5, Winds were 30-70 KPH S--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -2, Winds were 25-60 KPH SE --Roundhouse
1660 meters     -1, 5 cm of new, 8 cm in 24 hrs  Base 309 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters    +2, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +2.9, 3.3 mm of precip recorded yest

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility and it is snowing 2 cm per hr.


FORECAST:

A weak frontal band coming from the North will give us overcast skies this am with periods of light snow fall. Very slight chance we may see some breaks later today in a Westerly flow aloft. The freezing level will go up to 1600 meters this afternoon with day time heating and drop to around 1000 meters tonight. We will likely see some unsettled weather Wednesday morning before another weak frontal band pushes through with overcast conditions Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. Unsettled weather to follow Friday through Sunday as a weak ridge trys to build.
Guesstimates: 4-6 cm by Wednesday morning, 1-2 cm by Thursday morning, 4-6 cm by Friday morning, 2-4 cm by Saturday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Warm temperatures as the low moves over the top of the warm dirty ridge.

    Weak cold front moving through later.

    Snow ending later in the day.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Unsettled Wednesday morning.

    Not 100 % sure this will happen, possible overcast conditions tomorrow afternoon.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Sporty line, he did land it.

    Signs signs every where there's signs. Important ones!!!!

    Steeps were skiing well yesterday.

    Amazing how these rocks were left after the glacier retreated.

    Come support Avalanche Canada Foundation. April 14, 2018. Click on date for information.

    Monday afternoon, 18:00 Hrs, most of the moisture is missing us.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Iago Peak

Clinker/Price Lower

Bombtram Mountain



From South Coast Toring:

Duncan Schouten March 26 at 12:17pm

With all of the recent activity around Whistler, I dug a quick pit on west Oboe face yesterday afternoon to see how things were shaping up. 180322 storm slab was well consolidated down to mid-March crust at ~70cm, which sheared Q2 at CT24. Didn't dig down to the mid-February layer. Just another point of data for y'all.

ARTICLES:

Spring backcountry skiing & travel tips from Avalanche & AT Expert: Summit Daily

Orange Snow in Russia's Sochi compliments of the Sahara Desert: News Max

Colorado mountain snowpack still lags, at 72 % of the norm: Summit Daily

Avalanche Advisory--Snoqualmie Pass: Washington State

March 26, 2018

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche on Belle Plinier, France has claimed two lives. Article below.                 Net Pic

    Locally, not much activity. 2 Sz 3 Xc (cornices), Sz 1-1.5 Sc, Sz 1 Sa, Sz 1Sr.

    Xc cornice control on Whistler. Watch for the debris in the bowls.                                WMSP Pic

    Sz 1.5 Sc                                                                                                                                WHS Pic



    YESTERDAY:

    Unsettled Sunday morning.

    Clouds moved in fairly quickly in the am.

    Mid morning mid layer cloud.

    Visibility was challenging at times.

    Power flurries in the afternoon.

    There were some good turns to be had.

    Mid mountain cloud layer.

    Clouds rolling in at the end of the day.

    Sunday afternoon.

    Big picture on Sunday.


Weather Observations for March 26, 2018  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters     -8, Winds were 45-75 KPH S--Whistler Peak
1835 meters     -6, Winds were 25-40 KPH SE --Roundhouse
1660 meters     -4, 4 cm of new, 5 cm in 24 hrs  Base 308 cm --Pig Alley

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.2, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

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



FORECAST:

A weak front will bring periods of light snow to the area in a Northwesterly flow aloft. Warm advection will slowly rise the FL to about 1400 meters by tonight. We can expect gusty winds in the alpine for today. The flow continues into Tuesday with periods of light snowfall and the FL rising to 1600 meters. The upper ridge to our South will influence the low slightly with unsettled weather for Wednesday morning, but the low will send another weak frontal band through with mostly overcast conditions and the occasional flurry by Wednesday afternoon. The FL should drop to around 1200 meters for Wednesday. This pattern continues into Friday.
Guesstimates: 8-12 cm by Tuesday morning, 8-12 cm by Wednesday morning, trace-1 cm by Thursday morning, 4-8 cm by Friday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Low sending moisture our way, slightly warmer temps than yesterday.

    A weak front for today with periods of light snow.

    Light snow fall.

    Fronts along the coast.

    More snow for Tuesday.

    Snow ends by Wednesday.

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Blackcomb Glacier Creek is an alternate route out.

    How waterproof are your ski boots?

    It is the weekend!!

    Nice snow in Blackcomb Bowl later in the day.

    Nice light at closing.

    Wind blown snow was silky by days end.


Recent Avalanche Canada MIN report:

Russet & Adit Ridges



ARTICLES:

Two ski tourers have died in a Belle Plinier Avalanche: France

Snow, avalanche warnings issued for Interior, Southeastern B.C.: CTV News

Interesting conditions in Idaho: Sawtooth Avalanche Centre

Russian Avalanche destroys car park: Mount Elbrus

Orange tinted snow makes Ski Resort look like Mars: Russia

Alaskan canines practise avalanche search & rescue in Hatcher Pass: Three Day Workshop