Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: January 30, 2021

YESTERDAY:

Sunrise Friday was at 07:50 Hrs.

Awesome sunrise Friday am. Snowing as well.

Nice stellars were falling.

Unsettled in the morning.

Lower Bushrat.

More blue as the morning progressed.

Friday Jan 29, 2021. 15:00 Hrs. -8 Deg C with a 15-25 KPH SE wind. 0 Deg in the valley.

Clouds moved back in later in the afternoon.

Weak front was moving in by the end of the day.

Weather Observations for January 30, 2021 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters -9, Winds were 50-75 KPH S--Horstman Hut

2180 meters -9, Winds were 40-60 KPH SE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters -7, Winds were 10-30 KPH SW --Rendezvous

1835 meters -6, Winds were 15-40 KPH E--Round House

1650 meters -4, 3 cm in 12 Hrs, 3 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 221 cm --Pig Alley
1570 meters -5, 2 cm in 12 Hrs, 2 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 151 cm--Catskinner

660 meters -4, Valley Temp, Max Yesterday was +0.6, 0.0 trace of precip yesterday.

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

FORECAST:

A slow moving upper trough will bring periods of light snow for today in a South Westerly flow aloft. The freezing level will go up to around 1000 meters, dropping back down to 800 meters tonight. More active front arrives for Sunday with light to moderate snow. FL could go as high as 1200 m. Another front for Monday with periods of light precip. Guesstimates: 12-18 cm by Sunday am, 20-25 cm by Monday am, 10-20 cm by Tuesday am.

GOES IR image from this am.

Upper level trough with the FL rising to around 1000 m today.

More intense front Sunday with the FL going as high as 1200 m.

Weak front for Monday with the FL rising to around 1200 m.

More snow on the way for Monday.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

Soft slab North aspect Oboe. Sometime Friday. Chuck Ratzlaff Image

Lots of turns out there. Chuck Ratzlaff Image

MIN Report below. Metal Dome-Skier Triggered. Grahame Quan Image

No new avalanches observed on Whistler yesterday.

No new avalanche activity reported on Blackcomb yesterday.

Recent dry loose on steep terrain.

Losse dry on very steep terrain.

Soft slab Emerald Bowl

From the Sea to Sky Advisory:

Avalanche Summary

Recent avalanche activity has been limited, following a pattern of human and explosives triggered small (size 1) releases; wind slabs where wind loading has occurred and loose dry where it hasn't.

Looking forward, expect progressively touchy conditions and increasing hazard over the coming days with forecast new snow and wind. Along with the usual surface instabilities, concern for a recently buried weak layer is also rising in step with this active weather.

Snowpack Summary

15-25 cm of new snow, favouring the south of the region, is expected to accumulate by the end of the day on Saturday. This will add to 10-20 cm of recent snow sitting on firm, wind affected snow at upper elevations, on surface hoar in sheltered areas, on a melt-freeze crust below 1900 m, and on a sun crust on south-facing slopes. Recent winds have redistributed much of this new snow, creating wind slabs in leeward terrain, and stripping the new snow off of some windward slopes.

A crust from early December may be found around 200 cm deep in the snowpack. In shallow rocky areas, recent test results suggest that it may still be possible to trigger this layer. In deeper snowpack areas it has shown no recent results and appears to be unreactive in these areas.

INFORMATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Flurries at 2240 meters Friday morning.