Spring Coast 2017 - Or Not?

[Scooter]

Almost everyone has been experiencing significant startup delays (or snow days), so this article should come as no surprise:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4010499

[TripleS]

Not yet, Brrrr!
I wonder if the interior will be delayed a bit too, could be some scheduling issues if not.

[Scooter]

I think that a few companies are going to have to do some juggling, for sure. Ten people from my Interior camp last year were also coastal planters at various companies, so this would have been a challenge for me last year. This year, I think I only have three people plus myself who are planting for other companies on the coast, so it shouldn't be so bad.

I think in most cases, the Interior companies will just have their handful of transient coastal people showing up late, and it won't make a big difference. But for the companies that work both the coast and the Interior, there are probably a lot of managers looking closely at their calendars right now.

My startup on the north island has only been delayed once so far, but I'm expecting that I'll probably get another email any day now to say that it's been pushed back another week.

[Cyper]

It's the coldest and snowiest coastal winter in quite some time. Delays everywhere and people holed up in motels waiting. Even the sea level work that normally gets planted in February is still getting snowed on. Only a very few crews are planting right now and they're day to day. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to where the snow falls. One day it will be the southern half of Vancouver Island and the next the northern half.

There are some nervous foresters out here with pallets of thawed trees sitting in remote places waiting to get planted. These trees are actually refreezing at night as it's -3 to -5 most places. If you want to take a look at what conditions are like at the Port Alice turn off check out this web cam.

http://images.drivebc.ca/bchighwaycam/p ... w/402.html

[Scooter]

Hm. I've probably driven through that intersection about 150 times in the last five years, and I've never seen snow there before. The elevation at that intersection is only 84m above sea level. There would be a lot more snow on the blocks in the 300-500m range, I think.

[mwainwright]

There's over a foot of snow at sea level in queen Charlotte right now

[backcountrysister]

Currently, our Start date was supposed to be Feb 7th. We started on the 17th. Now sitting at a hotel in a holding pattern. Between snow at sea level and frozen ground our crew is stuck. A new arctic mass is settling over the island today. So, we are off until Monday with no real news.

[TripleS]

Pulling snowcones today, just a later start. Looks to be warming up Friday, so hopefully the shovels will be out soon.

[Cyper]

It looks like a change is a comin' at least up this way in Campbell River - http://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-19_metric_e.html

Not quite as warm in McNeil but at least above freezing from Friday onwards.

[Scooter]

From today's WFCA "Rumour Mill Roundup" newsletter:

As the saying goes, “If that rain keeps up, it won’t come down.” The same contradictory principle might apply to predicting weather as well. Nevertheless, it’s probably no surprise the Coast planting season has got off to an uneven start this year. The snow keeps coming and going leaving crews caught waiting it out in the dreaded “down-daze” mode, eating up costs and time in camp or motels. After a run of years of relatively mild coast weather we may be seeing a return to an older pattern. Some contractors we spoke to are just beginning to wonder about the onset of spring in other parts as their coastal commitments lag. According to the River Forecast Centre this winter’s snow pack is “upside-down” in many parts of the province. Colder temperatures, particularly in February, have led to greater accumulations of snow than normal at lower elevations. Meanwhile seasonally dry conditions have led to lower snowpack at higher levels. A clear case of “If that snow keeps up, it will come down.” Certainly spring appears in no rush like it has been the last few years. For all we know this year’s spring field season will all-in-all be normal. Whatever that is.

We had wet snow this morning. Not a very fun day, but whatever.

[Cyper]

R U at the Port Alice Palace? Land of long drives and grimy dives! Sleet, slash and hard earned cash.

[Scooter]

No. We pine for sunshine at the Pioneer PH. And the drives this shift were very short (the better to quickly get out into that wet snow this morning). But the coming shift is looking rosy.

[Scooter]

Ok, so "rosy" may have been slightly inaccurate.
At least none of us were day-drinking by the time the weather cleared up enough to go out and salvage a part day.

[mwainwright]

That makes me feel a bit better

[Thomas]

What's the coastal status as of today? Environment Canada tells me that much of the island is still under snow cover, but that doesn't tell me much about the blocks.

[Cyper]

It really depends where you are as to what the snow cover is but in general it's still snowy most places above 200 meters elevation and that's the south coast and Vancouver Island. Once you get into the mid coast there's still snow down to the water in a lot of places. North aspects aren't melting much at all yet. There's lots of snow hanging out on shady roads so even if blocks are open, chances are the roads aren't. It's a mess really and unprecedented if you talk to the old timers. They haven't seen a coastal winter like this for a long time. If the interior opens like normal there will be problems for contractors who work both places.

What I hear is that snow loads in the southern interior are well above normal at low elevation but average at high elevation. Does that sound like a compressed season and a bunch of foresters wanting their work done extra fast?

[Scooter]

This was taken the other day at just 15m elevation:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BR3Ma9PBmlV ... replant.ca

The worst thing is that most of the weather forecasts, if you look on The Weather Network or Environment Canada, are for the towns. And the towns are basically all at sea level. So even if the daily high temp for a given town is 6 or 7 degrees, the freezing line is generally just a couple hundred meters higher, so most of the blocks are above the freezing line. I lost 17 days of work in a row in 2012, due to a late March snowfall that didn't melt. That was minor compared to what's happening this year.