Grooming Update(first tracksetting this season):
Baker Creek Mountain Resort reports: “Baker to Castle Lookout has been track-set. A few rocks sticking out; there’s not a lot of snow in some sections.”
Posted today on Twitter. Read more about Emerald Lake on the Trip Reports from Tanya
I have 5 cm of new snow on my deck in Canmore this morning. The forecasts are calling for an additional 5 cm today. Temperature is -21°C. It should put the finishing touches on many of the trails which have required this such as the Ribbon Creek trails, Goat Creek, West Bragg, and Pocaterra.
By the weekend, temperatures in the mountains will have moderated and will be in the negative single digits, much more comfortable for skiing. Unfortunately Calgary’s snow is going to melt with highs of +9.
Click for larger image
Do not put any trust in the Weather Network’s current temperatures. I don’t know what the problem is, but they are indicating temperatures which are much warmer than in reality. For example, they were off by 10 degrees for Canmore yesterday, and this morning are saying it’s -14 in Canmore. Both my thermometer and the Nordic Centre’s(#5)are at -21. Ventusky is -23. Weather Underground is -21.
Thank you to everyone who contributed a trip report yesterday. We had 15 reports, maybe the most ever. Fantastic!
PLPP Webcam update from Duane Fizor, Regional Information Co-ordinator at Kananaskis:
“It appears unlikely that the PLPP Webcam will be installed this winter season.
I met with a contractor this week and made the decision that conditions are unsafe for the work that is required. Please know that ensuring the proper (and improved) function of the webcam and temperature sensor remain a priority for me and I will do everything I can to ensure this system is up and running later in 2017.”
I’ve removed the link from the Webcams page.
In my experience the weather network periodically shows wildly incorrect data.
Not just slightly wrong- but outrageously wrong. Computer generated issue?
Like do you think it’s -8 at Boulton creek right now?
Ps how do you find out how much snow PLPP got?
You can get current, live weather reports from several locations in Peter Lougheed Park… although, oddly, not right at the XC ski trails.
http://www.avalanche.ca/map?panel=weather-stations%2F4
At Aster Lake (near Upper Kananaskis Lake), it is -8.5C, with 7 cm snowfall. Highwood Pass is -19.5C, with 7cm of new snow. Black Prince (north-west of Pocaterra) is -13.4 C with 14cm of new snow. Mud Lake (Chester/Burstall parking lot) is -21.2, with 9cm of new snow.
These sites are within a radius of about 20 km of each other, so you can see that the actual temperature and snowfall can vary wildly within a very small area. If you were making a weather forecast in Toronto for PLPP, which of these temperatures and snowfall amounts would you use to verify your weather model predictions?
…that said, it does seem weird that Weather Network is claiming that the current temperature in Canmore is -11C, while Weather Underground live weather station at the Canmore Nordic Centre says -19.9C.