February 25, 2020

    YESTERDAY:

    07:15 Hrs Monday morning, looking promising?!

    Monday morning.

    Thin cloud cover.

    There were some breaks before noon.

    Powder was deep in protected areas.

    Monday afternoon.

    Big picture Monday afternoon. Front on its way.

    Black Tusk

    Monday February 24, 2020. 15:00 Hrs. -8.2 Deg c with a 5-15 KPH South wind.

    Fresh snow on the trees.

    Blackcomb at 17:30 Hrs.

    Sunset Monday evening was at 17:44 Hrs.

Weather Observations for February 24, 2020 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters    -6, Winds were 20-25 KPH S--Horstman Hut

2180 meters    -6, Winds were 10-15 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1860 meters    -5, Winds were 15-20 KPH SE --Rendezvous 

1835 meters    -6, Winds were   5-10 KPH S--Round House

1650 meters    -7, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 254 cm --Pig Alley
1560 meters .  -7, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, 0 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 176 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters    -2, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +2.5, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday.

    As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.

FORECAST:

An upper level trough with a weak cold front will bring periods of light snow for today in a Westerly flow aloft. The freezing level will rise to around 1000 meters. A series of weak Pacific frontal bands will bring periods of light snow into Friday. As of now Friday night into Saturday looks to be the biggest precipitation event with 15-25 cm, still too early to get an accurate amount. Wednesday is looking like the nicest day this week with sunny breaks around noon as we get some weak ridging. A weak warm front for Thursday will bring more light precipitation. Another weak ridge for Friday with unsettled weather, before a more vigorous cold front arrives Friday night into Saturday.
 Guesstimates: 2-6 cm by Wednesday morning, 2-5 cm by Thursday morning, 4-6 cm by Friday morning.

    GOES IR image from this am.

     Weak cold front for today with an upper level trough. Low pushing the high South.

    Fronts along the coast.

     High pushing back but still lots of cloud from the low for Wednesday. Unsettled.

     Upper trough bringing a weak warm front for Thursday.

     AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

     Missing student buried in Kashmir Avalanche has not been located yet. Article below.     Net Pic

    Sz 2 Sa Partial Burial Brandywine Area. MIN report below.                                 Brett Verleihi Pic

    Sc Sz 1.5 near Mout Fee.

    Different Perspective.

    Na Sz 1.5 Mount Fee area. Feb 24.

    Another Sz 1 Na.

    Sz 1.5 skier remote from Feb 24, 2020.                                                                     Andre Ile Image

    Old debris from February 1, 2020.

    Still evidence of the Na wet cycle at the beginning of the month.

    Avalanche mitigation on WB yesterday produced some Xc up to Sz 2. Sc got limited Sz 1-1.5.

   

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

    Busy day out in the Cypress area yesterday.

    There was some great light at times.

    Dark steep North facing cliff band.

    Lots of sledders enjoying the pow in the Mt. Fee area.

    Olympic Park.

AVALANCHE CANADA MIN REPORTS:

Hoar on the Shore: Feb 23, 2020

Brandywine Meadows: Feb 24, 2020

S2S Ledge Basin: Feb 24, 2020

VIDEOS:

Whistler Weather with meteorologist: David Jones

FWT winning run: Kicking Horse 2020

ARTICLES:

No trace of missing student buried under avalanche: Kashmir

Banff Avalanche Accident Report from Adam Campbell: Powder Canada

Avalanche Victims are trending older: Outside

Boulder Scientists prove snowmaking potential of cloud seeding: Colorado

How to nail your backcountry ski tour: FreeSkier