December 18, 2020

     YESTERDAY:

      Sunrise Thursday 08:06 Hrs. -4 with a 20-35 KPH SW wind. +1 in the valley.

      High cloud and mid mountain cloud Thursday am.

      Sunny breaks in the distance.

      Nice snow and visibility on 7th Heaven on Thursday am.

      Multiple cloud layers Thursday.

      Thursday 15:30 Hrs. -4 with a 10-15 KPH S wind. +3 in the valley.

      Satellite image from the same timeframe.

         Big picture Thursday afternoon.

Weather Observations for December 18, 2020 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -7, Winds were 55-80 KPH SE--Horstman Hut

2180 meters      -6, Winds were 60-95 KPH ESE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -4, Winds were 25-40 KPH SE --Rendezvous 

1835 meters      -4, Winds were 20-45 KPH SE--Round House

1650 meters      -2, 3 cm in 12 Hrs, 3 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 118 cm --Pig Alley
1560 meters      -2, 3 cm in 12 Hrs, 3 cm in 24 Hrs, Base   77 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters     +1, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +3.2 1.5 mm of precip yesterday.

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

FORECAST: 

A warm front will slide into the area today in a Westerly flow aloft. We can expect the FL to hover in the  1000-1200 meter range with strong winds and moderate to heavy precip. Chance it could spike to 1400 meters. Looking like a lull in the precip early Saturday morning before another frontal band brings light to moderate precip into Sunday morning. Dry but overcast for most of Sunday until yet another active frontal band brings light to heavy precip Sunday evening into Monday. Drying trend Tuesday into Wednesday of next week. Guesstimates: 25-35 cm above 1000 meters by Saturday am, 16-22 cm above 1000 meters by Sunday am, 4-8 cm above 1000 meters by Monday am, 30-50 cm above 800 meters by Tuesday am.

        Goes IR image from this am.

      Vigorous front moving down the coast for today. Warmish but not disastrous.

         Weaker frontal band for Saturday with slightly cooler temps.

      Cooler air Sunday with periods of light precip.

         Warm moisture plume heads South on Sunday.

     AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

      Avalanche mitigation on Whistler yesterday produced Sz 1-2 Xe, Xc, Xl, Sc.

      Patrollers on Flute.

      AC on Blackcomb produced Sz 1 Xe Sc.

From the Sea to Sky Advisory: 

Thursday saw numerous explosive triggered small and large avalanches, some that released on the persistent crust layer while others were within the storm snow.

On Wednesday there were reports of ongoing avalanche activity from explosive control and human triggered avalanches in the small to large range. Reports iindicate varied reactivity on a buried crust layer and include an explosive controlled large avalanches (size 2-2.5) on lee sides of ridge top features near treeline. Elsewhere avalanches were small (size 1) with average crown depths of 5-15cm deep.

      INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

      Decent visibility in the morning.

      Not exactly dry powder, depending on aspect and elevation.

      Cornices are growing.

      Very busy year with so many avalanche courses.

      Interesting light at times.

LOCAL AVALANCHE CANADA MIN REPORTS:

Red Heather: Dec 17, 2020

Flute, Oboe, Apostles: Dec 17, 2020

Gnarnia: Dec 17, 2020

Needle Peak: Dec 17, 2020

VIDEOS:

Basic Avalanche Theory: EVO

Avalanche Rescue Training Park: Colorado

Powder Picker Dec 17, 2020: David Jones

ARTICLES:

A ski tourer has died in an avalanche in the Arlberg Region: Austria

Another ski tourer has died in an avalanche near Uri Township: Switzerland

An avalanche has buried some real estate in: Austria

An avalanche has destroyed vacated houses in the Mankyal Valley: Pakistan

How to set a skin tack: Powder Cloud

Avalanche closes Klondike Hwy Thursday: Alaska

The five pillars of Skin Track Wisdom: WildSnow