Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-31 22:17:04.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

Old Glory in the sun today

It seems that there’s always something new to see on this mountain. Even here in late May, as we get into the summer months that tend to be much tamer than the winter months (that I have now gotten to see 5 sets of), something new can sneak up on you. Today, that happened in the form of a whole lot of smoke coming from wildfires, some burning out of control, to our north in Quebec.

We actually started to see effects from these wildfires earlier in our shift last week. Ryan commented on the red moon he saw a few days ago, which in retrospect, was most certainly caused by smoke or ash aloft. Yesterday morning, we saw the first signs of significant amounts of smoke with what I have been calling a “smoke undercast”, for lack of better term, below the summit. We often see cloud undercasts, which are simply clouds that we are looking down on the tops of below the mountain. In this case, there was a distinct layer of smoke filling the valleys below and blocking our view of anything below about 5,000 feet.

That so called smoke undercast returned in a big way this morning. Rather than tell you about it in words, I will let the pictures and video that we shot speak for me:

Photo album on our page on Facebook

Video on our YouTube Channel

In other news, I got to take what will likely be my last ski runs of the year in what remains of the East Snowfields. It was only a few hundred feet of turns, but the snow was perfectly soft and even had some fun bumps on it from the band of dedicated skiers that took advantage of the nice weather over the weekend to get their final turns. After a subsequent hike through the bottom of the Alpine Garden, I also discovered that a few varieties of alpine flowers are starting to show themselves.

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize the significance of the holiday we celebrate today. Thanks to all of those that have given their lives while serving this country and allowing me to enjoy the freedoms I do everyday, not the least of which is being able to live and work on this beautiful mountain! Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist