Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: January 24, 2021

YESTERDAY:

Mount Fee is part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt.

Top of Symphony

More tracks in the backcountry.

Very nice to be in the sunshine.

Saturday January 23, 2021. 14:00 Hrs. -5 with a 5-10 KPH SE wind. -2 in the valley.

Satellite image from Saturday afternoon.

Cloud started moving in later in the afternoon.

Weather Observations for January 24, 2021 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters -9, Winds were 30-40 KPH SE--Horstman Hut

2180 meters -9, Winds were 20-30 KPH ESE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters -7, Winds were 10-15 KPH ESE --Rendezvous

1835 meters -8, Winds were 5-15 KPH E--Round House

1650 meters -8, 4 cm in 12 Hrs, 4 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 218 cm --Pig Alley
1570 meters -8, 4 cm in 12 Hrs, 4 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 150 cm--Catskinner

660 meters -5, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was -0.6, 0.0 mm of precip yesterday.

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

FORECAST:

Front will move through today with periods of light precip in a South Westerly flow aloft. The FL will remain below surface. Low will bring more snow to the area Sunday night into Monday with unsettled weather by the afternoon. A mix of sun, cloud and some flurries. Drying trend Monday night with some flurries on Tuesday morning before we get some unsettled weather Tuesday afternoon. Another weak frontal band brings periods of light precip for Wednesday. Unsettled weather into Friday. We may see 20 cm for next Saturday. Fingers crossed. Guesstimates: 4-8 cm by Monday morning. 2-4 cm by Tuesday am, 1-3 cm by Wednesday am.

GOES IR image from this am.

Weak front for today with periods of light snow. FL below surface.

Weak front eventually dries up by Monday afternoon. FL below surface.

Low well off the coast, unsettled weather for Tuesday.

Low well off the coast, but will bring unsettled weather for Tuesday.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

An avalanche has killed a guide near Nendaz, Switzerland. Article below. Net Pic

Old slab avalanche on Black Tusk. 2100 m North aspect. Sz 2.5 Richard So Image

No new avalanches observed on Whistler. Old crown line still visible.

No new avalanche activity on Blackcomb.

From Sea to Sky Avalanche Advisory:

Avalanche Summary

No new reports in the last few days. Explosive control work targeting cornices on Thursday produced size 1.5 results and did not trigger slabs in the slopes below. This indicates an improvement in stability since last weekend, when similar work 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. Deep glide cracks have also been observed previously but appear to be holding together in the cool temperatures.

Snowpack Summary

A dusting of new snow falls on generally hard surfaces throughout the region; old stiff wind slab at upper elevations and a crust below 1900 m and on south aspects. In the recent cool, clear weather, crystals such as surface hoar and facets have formed ontop of these old surfaces. They are expected to become problematic as snow accumulates overtop.

Remnants of a melt-freeze crust from early December may be found around 200 cm deep in the snowpack. In shallow rocky snowpack spots, it still shows some propagation and collapse to moderate to hard loading in the most recent snowpack tests. In thicker snowpack areas it has shown no results, and appears to be trending dormant... for now at least.

INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Great temperatures for making snow!!