YESTERDAY:
Looking like a winter wonderland Saturday am.Fun, storm day skiing.
2240 meters -7, Winds were 30-45 KPH SE--Horstman Hut
1860 meters -4, Winds were 15-30 KPH SE --Rendezvous
1560 meters -4, 6 cm in 12 Hrs, 15 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 100 cm--Catskinner
FORECAST:
A weak warm front brushes the area today in a Southerly flow aloft. Unsettled weather for this afternoon as a ridge begins to build in the area for Monday. The FL will hover in the 1000 m range for today. Some discrepancies in the models, ridge is supposed to build but feel there is a chance of some precip later today with the low brushing by as it heads South. Could be wrong but time will tell. Mostly sunny skies for Monday as the ridge strengthens. Unsettled into Tuesday afternoon with a weak front arriving Tuesday night into Wednesday. More light snow for Thursday with the potential for a real storm to arrive Friday into Saturday. Guesstimates: 5-15 cm by Monday morning, 0 cm by Tuesday morning, 6-12 cm by Wednesday am.
AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:
Avalanches have killed 10 climbers in the Alborz Mtns, Iran. Article below. Net PicAvalanche control on Whistler produced mostly Sz 1 soft slabs Xe, Xc, Sc. 1 Sz 2 wind slab Xe.
Avalanche Summary
Storm slabs and cornices were reported to be touchy during the storm on Saturday, skier end explosive control work producing storm slab avalanches size 1-2. Earlier this week, numerous wind slab avalanches were reported, triggered naturally and by riders at treeline and alpine elevations.
A few large avalanches have been observed over the past week, running on buried weak layers (described in snowpack summary). Most occurred on north to east aspects in the alpine. A size 2.5 reported Thursday from a coastal glaciated area west of the Squamish river. It was on a southeast aspect, 100 m wide with crown depth 40-80 cm deep.
Snowpack Summary
15-30 cm of recent snow has been redistributed by strong easterly winds, depositing deep pockets of storm slab into lee terrain features.
Two potential concerning weak layers may be present in the snowpack:
- The shallower layer, around 60 to 100 cm deep, includes feathery surface hoar crystals. This layer may be found in sheltered terrain features at treeline and lower alpine elevations but has been reported as spotty across the region.
- The more widespread weak layer includes sugary faceted grains that overlies a hard melt-freeze crust. This layer ranges in depth from 10 cm to 120 cm due to the wind scouring and loading the snow in different terrain features over the past two weeks. The layer has been reported as being widespread up to around 2000 to 2200 m.
To date we have mostly seen sporadic avalanche activity on these layers, but they remain possible to trigger where they exist in the mountains.
The remainder of the snowpack is well-settled.
INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:
Strong alpine winds, Max gust Saturday am was 110 KPH from the NNE, at 11:15 Hrs.
LOCAL AVALANCHE CANADA MIN REPORTS:
Shooting Gallery: Dec 26, 2020
DOA: Dec 26, 2020
VIDEOS:
North Shore Snowpack: Dec 26, 2020
Powder Picker Dec 26, 2020: David Jones
Choosing Terrain: The Fine Line
ARTICLES:
Avalanches have killed 10 climbers in the Alborz Mountains: Iran
Ten people buried on Saturday in Valais: France
Avalanche rolls over snowshed on Hwy 1 East of Revelstoke: Lanark Tunnel
Sled Triggered avalanche-Partial Burial: California
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