December 26, 2019

YESTERDAY:

    An awesome Christmas Day. 13:00 Hrs. -5.5 Deg c with a 0-5 NNE Breeze.

    Early Wednesday morning.

    Pumping out the snow Wednesday morning.

    Broken cloud, improving later in the am.

    Blue bird in the afternoon.

    Sunset was at 16:14 Hrs.

    Dusk

    Wednesday afternoon.

    Big picture Wednesday afternoon.

Weather Observations for December 26, 2019 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -9, Winds were 30-40 KPH SE--Horstman Hut

2180 meters      -7, Winds were 30-40 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -6, Winds were 15-20 KPH S --Rendevous 

1835 meters      -5, Winds were   5-15 KPH SE--Round House

1650 meters      -4, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 90 cm --Pig Alley
1560 meters .    -5, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 46 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters      -6, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was -1.0, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday.

    As of 08:30 Hrs this am we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.

FORECAST:

A weak cold front is slowly moving down the coast arriving later in the day, with a Westerly flow aloft. The freezing level will remain below or just below surface. Overcast skies and a few morning breaks with light precipitation starting around noon, ending early Friday morning. A very weak ridge will bring unsettled conditions Friday afternoon with a mix of sun and cloud. A series of lows will bring several weak Pacific frontal bands and unsettled weather Saturday into next Friday. Guesstimates: 4-6 cm by Friday morning, trace-1 cm by Saturday morning, 5-10 cm by Sunday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

    Low to the North sending light precipitation for today.

    Fronts along the coast.

    Combination of low and high will bring unsettled weather for Friday.

    Weak frontal band from the low for Saturday.



    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Bony Basin. Xh on Tuesday.

    Skis on the ground Wednesday.

    Hiking restrictions were still in effect Wednesday. AC yesterday Sz 0-1.5 Xe Xc.



    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Reading the signs is not a bad idea!!

    Wednesday afternoon.

    Ideal conditions for surface hoar growth.

    Black Tusk.

    Lots of Santa's on the hill X-Mas Day.

    There are a lot of sight seers coming up to the treeline.

    End of the day.

    View from Harmony yesterday.  Photo and comments from Dave Sarkany. 

Taken yesterday. After Harmony opening. The ski quality is great in the bumps but use a lot of care! I've been out last 4 days working and have not seen new Na or Sa. But the weakness that made those slides is present everywhere that has not avalanches.



VIDEOS:

Avalanche Control: France



ARTICLES:

Not Business as usual in the Whistler Backcountry, say experts: Pique

Northwest Avalanche Center: Backcountry Avalanche Forecast

Warning Level 4 of 5! High Avalanche Risk: Alps

Avalanche Experts caution of "problematic" conditions in Utah's Backcountry: UAC