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