Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: January 31, 2021

YESTERDAY:

Sunrise Saturday was at 07:48 Hrs. -6 with a 15-30 KPH ESE wind.

A few breaks at around 08:30 Hrs.

Saturday 12:00 Hrs. -5 with a 10-20 KPH East wind. -1 in the valley.

An impulse of snow went through early afternoon. Snowing 2 cm/Hr.

Nice turns on Grace's Roll.

Impulse of snow was over by 16:00 Hrs.

Weather Observations for January 31, 2021 taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters -5, Winds were 70-105 KPH SE--Horstman Hut

2180 meters -5, Winds were 75-90 KPH ENE--Whistler Peak
1860 meters -3, Winds were 20-40 KPH S--Rendezvous

1835 meters -3, Winds were 20-50 KPH S--Round House

1650 meters -2, 28 cm in 12 Hrs, 34 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 248 cm --Pig Alley
1570 meters -2, 27 cm in 12 Hrs, 33 cm in 24 Hrs, Base 180 cm--Catskinner

660 meters -1, Valley Temp, Max temp Yesterday was -0.4, 5.8 mm of precip yesterday.

As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have obscured skies, limited visibility and snowing 2 cm per hour.

FORECAST:

Upper level trough will bring periods of light to moderate snowfall in a Southwesterly flow aloft with strong winds this morning. The FL will rise to around 1000 m. Winds should ease off by this afternoon. The front will push through by early Monday am with another one pushing in after a very short break. FL might go up a bit higher than 1000 m but hoping it hovers around there. yet more snow on Tuesday with cooler temps and a drying trend by the afternoon. . Guesstimates: 22-28 cm by Monday am, 25-30 cm by Tuesday am, 4-8 cm by Wednesday am.

GOES IR Image from this am.

Large upper trough offshore will bring periods of light to moderate precip and strong winds today.

Another moist day with slightly warmer temps on Monday.

Low will send more precip for Tuesday am, but should dry out with cooler temps.

AVALANCHE ACTIVITY:

Several avalanches in Austria, articles below. Net Pic

Sz 0.5 Sa Cayoosh, MIN report below. Maria Masiar Pic

Avalanche mitigation on Whistler yesterday produced little results. Cornice Control Xe Sz 2

Avalanche mitigation on Blackcomb yesterday produced no results. 1-Sz 1 Sc storm slab.

A Na Sz 1 observed just South of here, Sz 1.5 Sa observed in the near country later in day.

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 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

25-40 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.

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: