February 18, 2020

    YESTERDAY:

    First light Monday morning.

    Looking to the North East early am.

    Jump for Joy Monday. Ryder Belfone.                                                      Rick Meloff Pic

    Awesome light in the am.

    Convective cloud development at around noon.

    Monday February 17, 2020. 12:00 Hrs. -7.2 Deg C with a 5-10 KPH South Wind.

    Satellite image from the same time zone as above image.

    Big Picture Monday afternoon.

    Areas where the wind has stripped the snow down to the crust.

    Looking South.

    Nice light at the end of the ski day. Sunset was at 17:32 Hrs.

Weather Observations for February 16, 2020 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -13, Winds were 5-10 KPH N--Horstman Hut

2180 meters      -9, Winds were  0-5 KPH N--Whistler Peak
1860 meters    -11, Winds were 5-10 KPH ESE --Rendezvous 

1835 meters    -10, Winds were   0-5 KPH SE--Round House

1650 meters    -12, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 242 cm --Pig Alley
1560 meters .  -10, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 166 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters      -8, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +3.1, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday.

   As of 07:00 hrs this am we have clear skies and unlimited visibility.

FORECAST:

High pressure strengthens with sunny skies in a Northerly/North Easterly flow aloft. The freezing level will rise to around 1000 meters with daytime heating dropping back to surface by tonight. More of the same for Wednesday with the chance of an inversion and the FL rising to 1500 meters. Thursday is also looking like another sunny day. Friday at this time will likely be cloudy but dry. More on that as we get closer!!  A series of fronts will arrive for Saturday into Early next week. No new snow expected until Saturday.

    GOES IRimage from this am.

     High pressure for today.

    Fronts along the coast.

    High pressure for Wednesday.

        Low is starting to show its strength, pushing down the coast. High still in control.

    AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

    Rescue operation continues for recovering student buried in avalanche. Article below.    Net Pic

    Update on the avalanche that killed two snowbikers in Colorado: Article below.          Net Pic

    Not much to report avalanche wise on Whistler, Sz 1 Xc. Wet loose Sz 1.

    Frozen wet loose debris.

    Old wet loose in Lakeside Bowl.

    Recent slab release on un skied terrain.

    Bowls have a lot of cornice debris!! Blackcomb yesterday 1 Sz 1 Xc. Cornice control no slab.

    Will see more of this tomorrow with a good chance of an inversion.

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Mount Weart < Click for Description.

    Surface Hoar will flourish with calm winds cold temps.

    They are growing!!

    Ideal Surface Hoar growing conditions.

    Its on most aspects.

    Time for a reset, will have to wait until the weekend.

    Into the Hourglass.

    Nice turns to be had Monday!!

    Chalkley snow.

    Nice looking snow in Corona.

                  Recent snow profile in shallow area of snowpack.

AVALANCHE CANADA MIN REPORTS:

Watersprite Lake: Feb 16, 2020

Tszil: Feb 16, 2020

VIDEOS:

Avalanche Feb 17th, Utah: Brighton Resort

French Ski Resorts using helicopters to move: Snow

ARTICLES:

Rescue operation continues to recover student buried under avalanche: Kashmir

Update on the avalanche that killed two snowbikers in Eagle County: Colorado

Avalanche forces Russian climber to abort Broad Peak Summit: Himalayas

Powder, Pillows, and Probes: "New School"

Little Cottonwood Canyon reopens after slide debris cleanup: Utah

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Crews working to keep East Wall open: Conditions Permitting