January 21, 2021

     YESTERDAY:

      Just before sunrise on Wednesday. -8 with a 0-5 KPH ESE wind.

      WB weather machine was creating its own cloud.

      Very distinct stratus layer. yesterday am.

     Thin overcast.

      Breaks to the North West in the morning.

     Looking South in the morning.

      Nice soft groomers on the North side.

      14:00 Hrs. -4 with a 5-10 KPH East wind. +3 in the valley.

      Mid mountain cloud lifted in the afternoon. 

      Looking West later in the afternoon. Mid level and upper clouds moved around alot Wednesday.

     17:00 Hrs. -7 Deg C with a 5-10 KPH South breeze.

      Looking SW at 17:30 Hrs.

Weather Observations for January 21, 2021 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters      -7, Winds were 0-5 KPH WNW--Horstman Hut

2180 meters      -8, Winds were 0-5 KPH SSW--Whistler Peak
1860 meters      -9, Winds were 0-5 KPH WNW --Rendezvous 

1835 meters      -9, Winds were 0-5 KPH NNE--Round House

1650 meters      -8, trace in 12 Hrs, trace in 24 Hrs, Base 218 cm --Pig Alley
1570 meters      -7, 0 cm in 12 Hrs, trace in 24 Hrs, Base 150 cm--Catskinner

  660 meters      -4, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was +3.2, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday.

     As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies and limited visibility.

FORECAST:

Unsettled this morning as an offshore low will spread cloud to the area. Surface ridge strengthens this afternoon for mostly sunny skies in the upper elevations and cooler temps. The FL will remain below surface.  Ridge remains for Friday with sunny skies and some valley cloud. Sunny Saturday am with increasing cloud cover later in the afternoon as a trough brings very light precip to the area by Sunday/Monday. Looks like dry weather next week with snow on the way for Friday. Guesstimates: 0 cm by Friday am, 0 cm by Saturday am, trace-1 cm by Sunday am, 2-6 cm by Monday am.

      GOES IR image from this am.

      Surface high eventually wins over the low off the coast today.

      Surface high with cooler temps for Friday.

      Surface high slowly moves East on Saturday with weak onshore flow by the afternoon.

      AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

     An avalanche in Iceland has damaged infrastructure and equipment at Siglufjordur Ski Field. 

      A skier is in critical condition after an avalanche in Austria: Article below.                         Net Pic

      A secondary avalanche engulfs a rescue scene in Austria. Article below.                         Net Pic

No new avalanche activity on Whistler.

No new avalanche activity reported on Blackcomb.

From Sea to Sky Advisory:

Avalanche Summary

A few small wind slab avalanches have been reported since the weekend. Explosive control targeting cornices on Friday and Saturday produced size 2 results, some triggering deep slabs on the rocky slopes below. 

Earlier this month, we saw significant deep persistent slab activity, both natural and human triggered.

Snowpack Summary

Extensive wind effect in the alpine includes scoured windward aspects and hard slabs in lee terrain. Soft snow may be found in sheltered areas around treeline. A widespread surface crust exists below 1900 m and on south-facing slopes.

Remnants of a melt-freeze crust from early December may be found around 200 cm deep in the snowpack. Several large natural and human triggered avalanches failed on this layer earlier this month. Although it still shows propagation and collapse to moderate to hard loading in the most recent snowpack tests, it has become well bridged by overlying snow and crust.

Just for the record:

Interview for this article was from 12 days ago, the conditions have changed in the past few days. 

Challenging backcountry conditions "not going away": Squamish Chief

    INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

      Sunrise was at 08:00 Hrs Wednesday. Low level cloud, high thin overcast moving in.

     Overcast to the South in the am.

      Looking North, valley cloud was lifting.

      Valley cloud was very thick.

      Cloud engulfing ridge lines.

LOCAL AVALANCHE CANADA MIN REPORTS:

Fast travel at Brandywine: Jan 20, 2021

VIDEOS:

Big Avalanche: Austria

Snowboarder deploys airbag: Colorado

Saving someone from SIS: A true hero

Powder Picker Jan 20, 2021: David Jones

ARTICLES:

Free rider releases a secondary avalanche onto a rescue scene burying rescuers: Austria

Skier in critical condition after an avalanche: Austria

An avalanche has struck the Siglufjordur Ski Field: Iceland

Evacuations in Siglufjordur due to risk of avalanche: Iceland

Article and video of an avalanche in Northern B.C.: Hwy 37

Managing uncertainty in the backcountry: Powder Cloud

Extremely trigger-sensitive snowpack: Austria

ENSO Diagnostic Discussion: Jan 14, 2021

       Marker Goggles for best avalanche picture Jan 19- Jan 31, 2021 in Sea to Sky Area.

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