January 18, 2019

    YESTERDAY:

    Isolated flurries in the morning with some unsettled periods.

    Many cloud layers in the morning.

    Cold temps= good base!!

    Light snow at 08:52 and it was -3 Deg C at 1200 meters. not + 7.8 Deg C, 46 Deg F.

    Cold temps in the valley Thursday am.

    Nice light at times during the pm.

    Front arrived by days end.

Weather Observations for January 18, 2019  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -5, Winds were 65-85 KPH SE--Horstman Hut
2180 meters     -5, Winds were 50-80 KPH S--Whistler Peak
1860 meters     -3, Winds were 30-45 KPH S--Rendevous
1835 meters     -3, Winds were 20-40 KPH S--Round House
1650 meters     -1, 11 cm of new, 12 cm in 24 hrs, Base 250 cm--Pig Alley
1565 meters     -1,   7 cm of new,   8 cm in 24 hrs, Base 182 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters      0, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was -o.2, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

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



FORECAST:

The weak shortwave trough is exiting the area with some flurries and unsetled weather in a Westerly flow aloft. The FL will hover in the 1200 meter range for today. The next frontal band will arrive tonight with strong winds and moderate snowfall in a Southwesterly flow aloft. It weakens slightly on Saturday morning and slowly dissipates by Saturday night with a weak ridge building for Sunday. The ridge strengthens for Monday, before the next short wave trough arrives on Tuesday. The bulk of the precipitation Saturday will be heading South leaving us with less precip but cooler tempatures.
Guesstimates: 12-18 cm by Saturday morning, 20-25 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am, moisture on the way!!

    Nice to see the warm air staying South.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Strong winds Saturday but looks like most of the warmth stays south.

    Weak ridging for Sunday with unsettled weather in theam, sunny by the pm.

    Dry Northwesterly flow for Monday.


    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    An avalanche on Kachina Peak, New Mexico has killed 1 skier.  Article below Net Pic

    An avalanche has burried 10 people near Ladakh, Northern India. Article below.        Net Pic

    Locally no known new avalanche activity.



    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Coated Deciduous and evergreen tree.

    Encased!

    Melt freeze layers in the valley.

    Gravity takes over!!

    You are responsible for your own risk tolerance!!

    Not sure if I would want to be in that cave if there was an earth shake!!

    Rugged ridge line!!

    Very cool slab of rock. Any guesses to where it is???

                    Lets keep it real, not the place to be if your not an expert skier.

    Snow profile Spearhead Flank.

    Thursday afternoon.



From Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Lesser Flute: Jan 17, 2019




VIDEO FRIDAYS:

Avalanche control: Switzerland

Very large avalanche in Vinadi: Switzerland

Groomer goes for a ride in an avalanche: Smooth ride

Run over by an avalanche: Davos, Switzerland

Fall through the finish line: First Place



ARTICLES:



One skier has died, another critically injured in an avalanche at Taos Ski Valley: Kachina Peak

One dead, nine missing in avalanche in the Himalya's: Ladakh

Columbia Valley SAR details efforts in avalanche recovery: Mount Brewer

Avalanche that buried Provo Canyon in 9.2 meters of snow was planned: Utah

Germany evacuates citizens due to avalanche risk: Berlin

Avalanche experts stress importance of staying on Pistes: Switzerland

January 17, 2019

    YESTERDAY:

    Sunrise on Wednesday morning.

    Pre frontal cloud activity.

    Lots of moisture in the air at valley level with snow guns pumping it out!!

    Mid morning.

    Looking North in the aftertnoon.

    Clouds moved in during the early pm.

    Cloudy with some lenticulars later in the day.

    Ipsoot Mountain at last light.

Weather Observations for January 17, 2019  taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -5, Winds were 20-40 KPH S--Horstman Hut
2180 meters     -5, Winds were 40-50 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters     -3, Winds were 10-15 KPH SE--Rendevous
1835 meters     -2, Winds were 10-20 KPH S--Round House
1650 meters     -4, trace of new, trace in 24 hrs, Base 241 cm--Pig Alley
1565 meters     -3, 0 cm of new, 0 cm in 24 hrs, Base 176 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters     -3, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was -1.5, 0.0 mm of precip recorded yest

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



FORECAST:

A weak upper level trough will push onshore today with light precipitation in a Southerly flow aloft, switching to Southwesterly by this morning. The FL will begin to rise and hover in the 1200 meter range by tonight. Will likely see an impulse of moderate snow in the alpine tonight. Another weak trough for Friday morning with some light precipitation becoming moderate/heavy by Friday night with strong winds. This stronger front will roll into Saturday easing by Saturday night with a weak ridge building into Sunday morning with unsettled weather into Monday. Guesstimates: 8-16 cm by Friday morning, 15-20 cm by Saturday morning, 15-20 cm by Sunday morning. Still a chance most of the moisture will go South for Saturday, more on that as we get closer.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Weak trough with the low in a Southerly flow.

    Fronts along the coast.

    More intense trough by Friday afternoon. FL will likely hover in the 1200 meter range.

     Low continues to send precip our way Saturday.

    Weak upper through with some ridging for Sunday.



     AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    East facing on Rainbow Mountain.

    Recent wet loose in the Upper Fitzsimmons Valley.


    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Yes, cornices are ripe and fragile..

    Fast snow.

    There was even some inbounds powder Wednesday.

    Tantalus Range.

    Stephan's Chute.

    Snow making in the valley has created a swath of white down the valley with the outflow winds.

    Lower Blackcomb.

    Creekside Area.


From Avalanche Canada MIN Reports:

Mount Cheif Pascall: Jan 16, 2019




From South Coast Touring:
Mitch Sulkers

Conditions remain very good in the Spearhead, though the current surface layers, especially on non-solar aspects, will not make a good bonding surface for our next storm cycle...

ARTICLES:

Body of German Skier recovered from avalanche: Lech

Norway police recover 2 more avalanche victims: Tamok Valley

Squaw valley residents encouraged to use caution in avalanche prone areas: High

Controlled blasts trigger avalanches: Switzerland

The first death of Colorado's avalanche season came after a series of mistakes: CAIC

Keeping slopes safe is risky work: SwissInfo

Austria turns to Avalanche Control to prevent catastrphic snow slides: EFE

Guides dig out avalanched heli-skier: Idaho