Nipika 

Unexpected deluge
​
Drove through extreme darkness and pouring rain en route to our site. Perhaps there was a tiny amount of solid precipitation mixed in with the rain at the very top of Sinclair Pass, a brief whispering of the start of a transition zone. Somehow, despite the difficulties associated with sliding a truck through a deluge, we managed to arrive on site a little bit early, settling into the fine art of tarp stretching that has been perfected over the last two months at Nipika. With a little tarp heaven at my disposal, I settled into my observations at 0700 UTC (0100 MDT). 

0700 to 1030 UTC:
I was on the first shift, filled with strange imaginings in the constant roar of rain on the tarp and on the roof of the trailer. This was the most ferocious rain that I have experienced at Nipika and I assigned it an intensity of 4. However, I have been informed that my view of precipitation has been Nipika-ized (diminished in relation to the real world). With the air temperature starting at around 7°C, solid precipitation offered us no respite from the constant downpour of rain. Along with my wild imaginings, the little HOBO tipping bucket kept me company, happily clicking away at me in the deluge. On several occasions I finally saw long-awaited bursts of northern lights, however this turned out to be my flashlight beam caught in the constant presence of rain particles and distant fog. At 04:30 MDT (10:30 UTC) just as dark blue was starting to creep across the landscape, I passed my observation sheets onto Jeremy and then passed out in the back of the truck. 

- Selina

1030 to 1330 UTC:
I arose from a short but restful sleep in the bed of the research truck to heavy and sustained downpours which began to taper off over the duration of my shift. At first glance, the rain drops were an estimated 5 mm diameter during the heavier periods. By the time dawn had passed, the storm had lessened in intensity to a consistent light - moderate rain with roughly 2.5 mm raindrops or smaller. This rain was fully continuous for the duration of my first shift, and the tipping bucket gauge could be heard periodically dumping out its 0.2 mm increments of accumulation. By 1330 UTC, I was grateful to be done my shift, as I was more than ready to go back to sleep.

- Jeremy

1330 to 1900 UTC:
I reluctantly dragged my warm body out from my sleeping bag perched in a pile of sopping wet clothing and hauled myself into the trailer for my 13:30 UTC (07:30 MDT) shift. While my body felt like the rocks and gravel beneath the weight of the Kootenay River in full flood, my spirits soared during my shift, because, like always at Nipika, our best forecasters, the birds,  presented us with beautiful songs for the end of the storm. This shift was a relatively calm one, as gentle steady rain, transformed into drizzle, and then into the occasional drip that has haunted so many of our observations at Nipika. Unfortunately, this type of intermittent precipitation leaves you wondering whether you have actually encountered rain, or pee from a passing bird. Starting around noon, the precipitation came to an end (after a whopping 19.5 mm over the course of twelve hours), and the sun started to worm its way out of the thick layer of fog that had hidden the mountains and obscured the sky for the duration of our observations. I crawled into my sleeping bag shortly after 1900 UTC (1300 MDT) beneath gentle winds and blue skies.

​I awoke to blissfully warm sunlight and a dry truck, a completely different world from the night before. Thankfully the gum stuck to the top of my head brought me back to reality.  Apparently, my hat had seemed like a reasonable place to store it the night before.

- Selina

1900 to 2300 UTC:
My second round of observations were far more comfortable as the rain had abated, and temperatures had risen with the day and the breaking clouds. Observations were primarily of the shifting coverage of cumuloform clouds above, and noting heights of cloud ceiling and fog levels on the surrounding mountains. The winds were generally light from the south and southwest, with periodic gusty periods. I was grateful for the change to sit in the occasional patch of sunlight to dry out from the evening prior.

- Jeremy

2300 to 0000 UTC:
Light convective gusts and blue skies characterized my observations between 2300 UTC and 0000 UTC (1700 MDT and 1800 MDT), the last observations of the day. Unfortunately, the same delightful winds that were chewing away at the last vestiges of fog that still clung to the mountains, and helping the little cumulus clouds along, knocked over a tarp board and smashed Jeremy's ukelele into several pieces. After the usual array of cheesy photo-ops with the instruments and some data downloads, we sailed off into a bright warm evening.

-Selina

Field Participants: Selina Mitchell & Jeremy Morris

Fortress

Rainfall warning
 
0330 to 0530 UTC: 
Juris and I left BGI in a rush as soon as we saw how quick the big cell was moving over the north of Calgary. We arrived on site and took the first observation at 0330 UTC, and Cécile and André joined us about 30 minutes later. We observed a transition on the way up about 20 meters below the site elevation. The snow intensity was light at the beginning and increased in the first two hours. The wind was calm, the temperatures around 1°C and the hydrometeors were mostly aggregates of variable sizes and were melting really quickly if they were not already partially melted when they fell on the ground.

- Charlie

​Various snow types were observed from 0530-0730 UTC with large aggregates, measured up to 4 cm, though it looked like larger ones occurred watching out the window. Precipitation observations switched nearly every 10 minutes, and the degree of riming also varied. Precipitation started unrimed and then switched to heavy riming around 0620. Perfect snowball weather! At 0600 UTC snow depth was recorded at 5 cm with a SWE of 5 mm and at 0700 UTC snow depth was 10 cm with a SWE of 10 mm. Precipitation intensity ramped up starting at 0710 UTC. 

- Juris

0730 to 0930 UTC:
After working very hard on producing a beautiful video presenting our wonderful shared house (that you will be able to find on Youtube very soon), and while Juris and Charlie were taking on the first shifts, André & I tried to get some sleep on the tables in the lodge, as presented in the pictures. As weird as it may sound it wasn't that uncomfortable, but it was still tricky to fall asleep as we forgot to ask Mel how to turn the light off... So when I got off of table at 0720 UTC to take over my first shift I was already pretty tired. But seeing a strong fog, an intensity of snow about 5/5, very large aggregates and a consequent relative snowpack got me to instantly wake up and get very excited about my observations. The 2 hour shift then passed very quickly. The wind remained surprisingly very calm, and the snow intensity very strong for the whole duration of my shift. I was able to take macrophotographs at each timestep, and observe different types of particles, from heavily rimed dendrites to large aggregates, passing by needles, columns and plates.

- Cécile

0930 to 1130 UTC:
This period of the storm was very intense, with snowfall varying between intensity 4 and 5, and decreasing to 3 and 2 when it turned into mixed precipitation. Hydrometeors were mostly heavily rimed dendrites, aggregates, irregular-shaped hydrometeors, graupels, with some occasional occurrence of rimed columns. During mixed precipitation hydrometeors were marked by graupel and rain drops. Although the weather was stormy, the winds were calm to moderate. Also, during this period it was possible to see on the radar how the foothills of the Canadian Rockies were blocking this event, pouring most of the precipitation East of us, however, we still got a very substantial accumulation of snow on the ground (19.5 cm until 1100 UTC).

- André

1130 to 1330 UTC: 
Mixed precipitation of variable ratio occurred until 1200, after which the particles were only solid and heavily rimed, mostly graupel. Even with the calm wind, the snow intensity was a bit more than moderate. Temperatures a bit over 0°C, the snow didn’t accumulate on the board for that period, it stayed at 19 cm but the SWE went over 30 mm!

- Charlie

1340 to 1530 UTC:
​Precipitation started with heavily rimed dendrites. Winds were calm and then gusty coming from the NW at 1410 UTC. Strathmore showed a line of precipitation making its way to Fortress, but strongest precipitation diverts slightly south of us (23-45 dBZ). Temperatures were above 0°C and most particles looked partially melted during observations. At 1450 UTC mixed precipitation occurred.

-Juris

1530 to 1730 UTC:
After a 5 hour beauty sleep in the lodge, that left me as refreshed as the Kootenay river during its coldest days of May, I bravely walked through a deep snowpack that had doubled during my break, to get to our now famous trailer. However my second shift was very different from the first one, as the precipitation intensity was now moderate, and as I only got mixed precipitation in the first part, generally with a snow ratio of about 5% only, and only rain in the second part. That being said I wasn't able to take any pictures, so you will have to blindly trust my observations. The fog was still intense but the site remained pretty clear during these 2 hours. On the picture I took at 1700 UTC, you can see very clearly the base of the cloud that passed over us at that time.

- Cécile

1730 to 1930 UTC:
This period was marked by an alternating presence of mixed precipitation and solely rainfall. Intensity was very light to moderate, and solid hydrometeors when present were composed of small ice crystals, irregular-shaped hydrometeors, aggregates that broke and melted instantly upon contact with the velvet pad, and partially melted dendrites. By this time of the event, Fortress Mountain was in the fringe of the storm, thus light intensity precipitation was prevailing.

- André

​2040 to 2130 UTC:
My shift started off very foggy and shifted throughout the hour with varying degrees of "fogginess". Winds were calm for the majority of the hour but from 2100 to 2020 UTC winds were generally northerly. At 2110 mixed precipitation (70% rain and 30% snow) consisting of partially melted graupel and rain was observed at the same time as the fog rolled in swiftly.

- Juris

2130 to 2230 UTC:
For my last shift, I sadly didn't get any precipitation, and moreover had to observe the snowpack gradually melting... But I suddenly realized that the observations I was taking at that time were maybe the last ones I would take for that project, so I tried to enjoy them as much as I could. This storm might be the last one to be part of the project SPADE, but it was definitely not the least!

- Cécile

Field Participants: Charlie Hébert-Pinard, Cécile Carton, André Bertoncini & Juris Almonte

NIPIKA

Dry conditions
​
Quiet times on the western side. The team arrived on site at 2010 UTC to find dry soils and no rainfall till 2145 UTC when a few sparse raindrops fell. Since the weather wasn't providing much excitement, Aurélie and Jeremy installed an additional tipping bucket rain gauge in tandem with the Geonor weighing gauge. The group then put some time into redesigning the tarp setup in preparation for the coming deluge. Routine data downloads were conducted.  Some light rain occurred sporadically while the group was on site, however precipitation did not persist past roughly 0230 UTC prompting the team to depart. 

​-Selina

Field participants: Selina Mitchell, Jeremy Morris & Aurélie Desroches-Lapointe
​

FORTRESS

Wet conditions
​
Although the GEM2.5 model run didn't show any precipitation until 0100 UTC, the scattered cells we observed on the radar made Charlie and I leave BGI at 1900 UTC to arrive on site at 2005 UTC and take our first observation at 2010 UTC, after a data download at Fortress Junction. Charlie took the first shift. We arrived under  cloudy but clear weather, but only a few minutes later, we started to observe strong winds, and some snow for about an hour. Charlie had the time to observe graupel first, and then aggregates getting smaller with time. The intensity of snow was the highest around 2030 UTC.

The weather then remained clear until 2240 UTC, when I saw a grey cloud coming from the north progressively covering the sky, and then a gusting wind coming from the north and medium-sized graupel falling for 30 minutes. Then it got clearer and clearer again. In the end the snow and gusts went on and off for the length of our shift, but the intensity was the highest between 2240 UTC and 2300 UTC, the snowfall intensity was then about 3.5/5. From time to time we were able to take some pictures of the snowflakes, but most of the time it melted too quickly for that. We didn't observe more than graupel and aggregates.

​We left the site at 0600 UTC after a 10 hours shift, and let Juris and Hilary replace us for the nightshift.

- Cécile

Hilary and Juris arrived on site at 0600 UTC June 20. The drive to our site was very eventful with lots of wildlife spotted on the side of the highway, including what may have been a possible lynx or other large cat, as well as a bear squatting and eyeing us down on the right hand side of the Fortress road as we drove up! Charlie and Cécile caught us up on everything and left to head back to BGI to get some much deserved rest. When we arrived at the top there was very light snow and stopped around 0640 UTC. Visibility was clear and the wind was calm during that time. Snow started again at 0720 and became light-moderate with dendrites, small irregulars, and aggregates of dendrites. Winds were light from the south. Snow really began to accumulate at 0800 UTC and visibility became moderate, at times poor.
 
Juris started her shift changing the settings of the macrophotography camera. In the end, extra batteries were taken from the timelapse camera on the scaffold and used for the flash. Anyways it was too dark for the timelapse camera to capture anything. This solved the issue. Precipitation picked up around 1000 UTC with larger aggregates that lasted about 20 minutes. By 1030 UTC, precipitation had ended, agreed upon by songbirds as they were chirping away loudly. At 1130 UTC unrimed precipitation (needles, aggregates of dendrites and singular dendrites) amongst rimed precipitation were observed.

-Juris
 
When I woke up for my next shift, it was a foggy winter wonderland! I began taking observations at 1200 UTC. Snow started again at 1230 UTC with light/moderate intensity and particles were mostly dendrites, aggregates of dendrites, and small irregulars. At 1310, graupel was spotted in addition to the snowflakes. Charlie and André came to replace myself and Juris at 1400 UTC, and we headed back to BGI. On the way down we conducted a carsonde, capturing a transition region. 

- Hilary

André and I arrived on site at 1400 UTC, with the kestrel out of the car’s window and the cellphone filming the road. We observed an interesting transition on the way up in the precipitation type falling but also in the scenery. The first three hours of observations were pretty busy, with temperature around -1°C and snow intensity up to 4 (moderate to heavy). We took some nice pictures, but the crystal types were not very varied, it was mostly aggregates of dendrites (some large around 1.5 cm). An interesting thing that we notice during that time was that the wind was coming from S – SW all along the event, but the radar was showing cells coming from N. From 1700UTC, the intensity started to drop and the temperature increased. We had about 7.5 cm of accumulation on the board at that moment and at the end, it was entirely melted. So we left the site around 2000UTC, as green as it was the day before!

-Charlie

Field participants: Cécile Carton, Charlie Hébert-Pinard, André Bertoncini, Hilary Smith & Juris Almonte

NIPIKA

Calm before the storm

​The team at Nipika make a quick visit to site in anticipation of the upcoming precip. Selina, Jeremy and Aurélie arrived on site around 1600 UTC to ensure that the instrumentation was functional; battery voltages were checked, the time-lapse camera SD card was switched and data were downloaded (Parsivel, MRR2 and CR1000X). As it was a sunny and warm day, therefore observations were not necessary, freeing the group to  further ensure that the Parsivel was recording spectral data, and that the geonor capacity was adequate to the end of campaign. While driving back to Radium Hotsprings, the Kootenay Valley was adorned with towering Cumuliform clouds, the harbingers of thunder and a sign of atmospheric instability.

- Jeremy Morris & Aurélie Desroche-Lapointe

Field Participants: Jeremy Morris, Selina Mitchell, & Aurélie Desroche-Lapointe

FORTRESS

Prepping for the next round

André and Juris left BGI and arrived at Fortress around 0930 MDT to run a few errands with the hope to catch some scattered convection that was mentioned during the morning forecast provided by Jeremy and Aurélie.

Skies were blue when we arrived and we were greeted by Mel, the Fortress custodian. He gave us some tips to get the generator running again and lo and behold a few more pulls of the line and we had it running!

Cumulus clouds were just starting to develop to the southeast when we arrived. Juris worked on getting the time-lapse cameras up, while André worked on the MRR.

André made numerous trips to the clearing at Fortress Powerline to troubleshoot with the MRR computer. The goal is to have remote access to the MRR2, which will be important to ensure the MRR is functioning properly. He is working with Dr. Nicolas Kinar, who is advising and helping troubleshoot through the network issues.

At 1359 MDT winds picked up and rain began shortly after. We saw the cell approaching on the Strathmore radar. Rain was near horizontal coming from the west, but the cell quickly passed lasting only 10 minutes or so.

Another round of more sustained precipitation began around 1500 MDT. Radar showed storm direction from the northwest moving southeast, but on site precipitation was from the SW. Precipitation consisted of mostly drizzle or small rain droplets, but with moderate winds, it appeared heavier. The parsivel showed droplet sizes around 1-2 mm.

Precipitation ended at 2340 MDT and we departed shortly after the full data download.

​- Juris Almonte

Field Participants: Juris Almonte & André Bertoncini

NIPIKA

A beautiful, clear morning

After having an interesting sleep due to the thunderstorms throughout the night, the Nipika team, consisting of Juris, Selina and myself (Hilary), left Radium Hot Springs at the crack of dawn to make sure that we arrived on site for 1100 UTC. The roads on the way to the site were still wet from the storm and there were some low clouds in the valleys. Thankfully we beat the first logging and mining shifts and had an uneventful rest of the drive to the site. We arrived on time and started our first observation at 1100 UTC. There were a few scattered clouds in the sky and the sun was just beginning to rise. Temperatures were slightly cool and it appeared as though there could be a little fog in the area. We continued to take observations until 1300 UTC when it was determined that there would likely be no precipitation occurring and both the Nipika and Fortress teams could stop observations and head home. Conditions during those two hours were lovely because the birds were singing and the sun was rising. We could really feel the warmth of the sun once it got over the mountains. We stayed at the site a little later to complete a data download and work on a special project for YouTube - stay tuned! We returned back to Radium Hot Springs around 1430 UTC. 

​-Hilary

Field Participants: Juris Almonte, Selina Mitchell & Hilary Smith

FORTRESS

An uneventful day

Aurélie & I woke up at 2.30 MDT to depart for Fortress at 3.15 MDT. That might be the hardest wake-up I have experienced since the beginning of the project, it was just out of reality. The new model runs from 12 AM available at that time didn't show so much precip anymore, but we saw some cells on the radar that could definitely be interesting for our observation area, so we decided to go anyway.
On our way we experienced a very heavy shower, but as we arrived at the foothills of Fortress it was over, therefore we didn't do a carsonde. We were amazed by our sense of timing as we arrived at the trailer at 0359 MDT and were able our first observation at 0400 MDT sharp (1000 UTC). I took the first and, in the end, only shift.
At that point there was no precip at all, but a few minutes later a strong and sudden shower started, and lasted for 30 minutes or so. After that the weather got clearer and clearer. In coordination with the Nipika site we decided to stay until 7 AM MDT anyway, as the forecast was initially expecting a shower between 6 AM and 7 AM MDT, but it never showed up. I saw the sun rise in a very pleasant sky, a first for me since the beginning of the project, and it was amazing !
I woke up Aurélie, took a picture of the site at 0700 MDT, and we left so we could finally go home and have a proper sleep, before going to Calgary to pick André up at the airport - Welcome back to SPADE André !
​
​- Cécile

There's not much to say on our side. Expecting precipitation in the afternoon, Jeremy and I left BGI around 1700UTC. There was rain occurring at that moment and for the first half of the road, but it stopped when we arrived on the field. After that we had some really light rain from 1820 to 1930UTC with a short episode of small hail at 1840. For the rest it was a beautiful sunny day, offering us a nice view in the mountain! Jeremy took advantage of that time to try fixing the generator, which was unfortunately still not working at the end.
​
- Charlie

Field Participants: Cécile Carton, Aurélie Desroches-Lapointe, Charlie Hébert-Pinard & Jeremy Morris

NIPIKA

A bit of rain​

Jeremy and Aurélie arrived at Nipika around 1000 MDT and conducted a general site inspection to ensure the instrumentation was operational. Parsivel tests were conducted by obstructing the beam to force a response in the "pcolor" plots. Attempts at simulating enormous snowflakes using wood branches did not seem to significantly affect the velocity/diameter pcolor plot. However, when 2x4 lumber was positioned stationary between the heads, the corresponding timestamp showed no precip, as the laser beam was completely blocked. This indicates that the Parsivel filters out oversized obstructions which explains why the "branch" method may have failed to show responses.

Observations were then conducted from a cabin at Nipika resort (within 800 m of site) just prior to sunset at 1020 MDT. At this time, the sky was overcast with a light rain and negligible winds. Two rainfall events occurred overnight during observations. During the first rain event, precipitation intensity was weakening from 0510 until the end of rain at 0610 UTC. Winds were consistently negligible during the event. The sky was likely overcast for the duration of rainfall, however the darkness of night prevented accurate observation till rain ended and stars became visible.

Precipitation started back around 0840 UTC at an intensity slightly higher than the previous rain event. Rain intensities of light-to-moderate (1-2.5) intensity were observed, with very low winds.  Similar to the first rain event, precipitation rates weakened until the event ended at 1000 UTC.

Finally, rain picked up again at 1050 UTC at a very light intensity (0.5) and increased to a maximum intensity of moderate (3) from 1230 until 1240 UTC, after which it decreased to a very-light precip rate (0.5) at 1330 at which time Jeremy and Aurélie ceased observations to assist at Storm Lodge.

On the drive from Nipika to Storm Lodge the transition from rain to snow, characterized by mixed precipitation, was observed a little after Kootenay Lodge (1350m) on 93rd highway at 1428 UTC. The air temperature was decreasing as we approached Storm Lodge. Large aggregates of snowflakes falling at a moderate rate (3) were observed in very calm atmospheric conditions at 1431 UTC and 1372m of elevation. At 1446 UTC and an altitude of 1469m near Marble Canyon, medium sized flakes were observed. Upon arrival at Storm Mountain Lodge, heavy snowfall was starting to make driving hazardous and the team was happy to have arrived to support the MRR-Pro crew.

- Aurélie & Jeremy

Field Participants: Aurélie Desroches-Lapointe & Jeremy Morris

STORM MOUNTAIN LODGE

A very snowy morning

Jeremy and Juris arrived shortly after 4 PM MDT at Storm Mountain Lodge. We checked into our rustic cabin (Cabin 1) and talked to Cael the manager, and discussed our plans for deployment. He kindly allowed us to put the MRR and tipping bucket in the clearing in front of the cabin about 20 m away.

Hilary arrived not too long after. While Jeremy and Juris were working on getting the MRR, tipping bucket and temperature/RH sensor deployed. Hilary set up the time-lapse camera ensuring a good view of all the instruments and the mountains on the other side of the highway.  A few curious guests stopped by while we were setting up to come and chat; a great opportunity for public outreach and a way to share our pamphlets with others. Farmers from Australia visiting the Rockies took interest in what we were up to and the information we were gathering. This was very encouraging and a great reminder of how important this research is. We gave them a heads up that snow was on its way overnight and the two seemed excited and wished us luck!

We had the MRR pro up and running around 1800 UTC and changed the height above sea level to 1723 m at 1934 MDT. We were able to plug the UPS system into the cabin outlet and the MRR directly into the UPS system. This way we were able to run the MRR pro past the 14-16 h battery life of the UPS system.

Hilary and Juris started observations at 0700 MDT (June 7 0100 UTC). The beginning of the storm was slow with rain at 2010 MDT, and was intermittent until 2130 MDT where precipitation continued on steadily afterwards. Temperatures slowly dropped from 8°C at 0150 MDT (June 7) to 1.0°C at 1040 MDT. At 1050 MDT the observer made special note of heavy snowfall, and within the next few time steps, it was noted that the air was saturated, with temperatures hovering around 0°C according to the kestrel which we used to log temperature and relative humidity alongside the hobo RH and temperature sensor borrowed from U. Waterloo.

The snow from the MRR was first brushed off at 0437 MDT and was consistently brushed off afterwards. Although we did our due diligence clearing the dish, it was difficult to keep it clear of snow. 

Snow macrophotography pictures began at 0453 MDT and ended at 1116 MDT. A variety of precipitation types were observed, including columns, dendrites and plates, with rimed and un-rimed particles. Lots of aggregates were observed as precipitation rates increased and temperatures neared 0°C. At 0520 MDT a noticeable accumulation of snow was observed on the snow depth board, and by 0610 MDT 0.6 mm of precipitation was measured.  

At 0718 MDT (June 7), large aggregates ~5 cm lengthwise were observed (picture taken of ~4 cm aggregate below), but we suspect larger aggregates were observed. At 0800 MDT 5.6 cm of snow had accumulated on the snow depth board with a SWE of 6 mm. 

At 1000 MDT Jeremy and Aurélie arrived at Storm Lodge to help us out with the observations. Good timing as we needed help with the observations, but also to pack out of the cabin. Storm lodge employees kindly allowed us to check out at noon, which allowed us to relax a little longer.  

We slowly started to move instruments and other items to their respective vehicles. Hilary and Juris moved the UPS system to the back of the Ford Escape, while Jeremy took observations/photos and Aurélie tidied up. We ran the MRR Pro strictly off the UPS system starting at 1122 MDT. 

By 1115 MDT Jeremy noted it was difficult to take pictures as temperatures were much too warm. At 1320 MDT we took the last observation and there was no precipitation occurring at the time. The last SWE measurement was 13.2 mm, with no recorded depth given it had compacted. 

The four of us debated how we should measure the snow that had accumulated on top of the tipping gauge, with different ideas put forward. In the end, we carefully transferred the snow into a thick ziploc bag and melted the snow with our body heat (Thanks Aurélie!). At 1351 to 1353 MDT we poured the melted water into the tipping bucket. We all understood that this was not the best scientific practice, but voted this would be the most practical method to get a total amount. With the addition of the melted snow we had a total of 12.2 mm.

Our two vehicles departed Storm Lodge at 1405 MDT. Hilary took the MRR Pro and timelapse camera back to BGI, while Jeremy, Aurélie and Juris headed to Nipika to download data. 

- Juris Almonte

Field Participants: Hilary Smith, Juris Almonte, Jeremy Morris & Aurélie Desroches-Lapointe.

FORTRESS

Heavy snow during the day

Selina and I arrived at Fortress at 0054 UTC June 7, at the exact same time as the snow. This led us to believe that it would be a very busy night, but also allowed Selina to finally observe snow – a rare commodity at Nipika! That said, the excitement was short-lived because only 20 minutes later the snow stopped and left us with a light drizzle until 0500 UTC. The temperature decreased throughout this period which allowed the snow to return with a light intensity. The initial crystals were very small and half melted, but they started to become more and more defined the more the temperature decreased. They were primarily small rimed irregular particles, individuals or aggregates, but we all also saw some beautiful and large aggregates of dendrites for a couple minutes around 0700 UTC. The snow then slowly started to diminish and the sky became clear, which showed us the magnificent and bright stars, and strangely illuminated clouds. When the sun started to rise, we were charmed by a slight blanket of snow on the mountains, despite the absence of snow accumulation on our snow board.

- Charlie Hébert-Pinard

​When I woke up at 4 AM this morning, it was still unclear if I would have to go to Fortress to replace Selina and Charlie. The storm appeared to be on the tail end, and the GEM-LAM didn't expect anything coming before 3 PM. As the plan was originally to take measurements at all sites at the same time and as I was already awake, I decided to go. As Hilary was at the Storm Mountain Lodge for this event, I took Michelle Ives with me, an intern working at BGI who had very kindly volunteered to help us during our project if we ever needed assistance. So we arrived at Fortress at 6 AM, and Selina and Charlie were finally able to leave after a long night spent out in the field.

First I started to show Michelle the trailer, how to make observations and to take photographs, as it was her first time on site. She learned very fast, and was quickly able to take her first shift alone. At that point the snow was light and melted too quickly to take photographs. By 7 AM I took a picture of the site to compare it with other sites, you can find that picture below.

By 8:30 MDT the snow became moderate, and intensified until finally at around 11:20 MDT it reached a high level of intensity that we defined as 4.5/5: This intensity lasted for 2 hours. We had some interesting and very big snowflakes which we were finally able to capture, and I even saw capped columns for the very first time!

By 10:30 MDT Professor Julie Thériault came with Professor John Pomeroy to show him and a visitor his site and I could finally meet him after having heard so much about him. He even knew some words in Breton, that definitely made my day.

The snow accumulated on the board, and by 1100 MDT I could show Michelle how to measure the snow depth and the snow-water equivalent (SWE). Around noon the amount of snow was so high that the tent collapsed! I unfortunately didn't take the time to take a picture but I can assure you that it was impressive! Luckily the camera was not injured, and the tent easily took its original form back. Thinking back on it, it might also be lucky that it chose to collapse after Professor John Pomeroy and his visitor had left, and not while they were under it watching me taking photographs. That would have been embarrassing.

The snowfall intensity remained strong until 15:00 UTC, before finally calming down. During the whole time we were on site, the visibility was very poor, and we couldn't really see the ski runs. Around 16:10 MDT it became so foggy that we couldn't see more than 10 meters from us. Around 16:30 MDT we had a last strong episode of snowfall, that lasted until Selina & Charlie came to replace us. On our way back to BGI, Julie and I did a carsonde, and we were able to find a transition zone that was pretty low, around 1590 meters.

Next to the picture I took at 700 MDT, you can find a picture taken just before we made our last observation at 17:00 UTC. With 16 cm of snow accumulated on the ground during that intense day, we were definitely glad that we decided to go on-site that morning, even if no precipitation was expected during the daytime !

- Cécile Carton

​We drove from BGI through mixed precipitation into several centimetres of freshly accumulated snow at the top of Fortress. We arrived (Charlie and Selina) on site at 5:20 MDT (11:20 UTC), where we traded with Cécile and our intrepid BGI intern Michelle. There was about 14 centimetres of freshly accumulated snow on the ground when we arrived and it was snowing quite heavily, with an intensity of about 3. However, as the evening progressed the snow intensity varied, since a couple of small snow squalls popped in for a visit and then promptly left, leaving mostly dendrites, irregularly shaped flakes, needles, and some aggregates in their wake. The birds began to sing again at 1850 MDT (0050 UTC) and the snow fall intensity decreased shortly thereafter. A fine dusting of tiny snowflakes that were well below the threshold for photography graced our presence until we departed shortly after 20:00 MDT (0200 UTC).

- Selina Mitchell

Field participants: Selina Mitchell, Charlie Hébert-Pinard, Cécile Carton, & Michelle Ives