Avalanche bulletin and weather forecast Haute Savoie

This avalanche translation of the Meteo France avalanche bulletin is produced mainly through an automated translation tool. Please use it in conjunction with the French bulletin found at the above link.

N74261211
SNOW AND AVALANCHE BULLETIN - HAUTE SAVOIE
VALID OFF OF OPEN AND MARKED RUNS )
PREPARED ON WEDNESDAY 26 DECEMBER
FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 27

ESTIMATE OF RISK UNTIL THURSDAY EVENING:
All massive Haute-Savoie: limited risk (level 2).

WEATHER OVERVIEW UNTIL THURSDAY EVENING:
Good weather returns in the mountains.

Isothermal 0 DG: 1800 m with cold air at low altitude.
Wind at 2000 m: North-east 20 km / h.
Wind at 4000 m: North-east 40 km / h.

SNOW CONDITIONS:
They are very good for late December. Skiing limits start at 800 m in the north and approximately 1000 m in the south. At altitude, we find significant variations in the snow continuing with the winds that blew hard last week. The ridges are sometimes dégarnies and bowls are well loaded. Beware of the snow bridges that can be fragile on the lower parts of the glaciers.

Quality of snow Thursday: On the average mountain, we will meet changing conditions: in a southern slope snow or croûtée is softening a bit during the day, in northern slopes the snow is mostly cardboard like from the wind, the areas of powdery snow are rare given the numerous ski tracks. In the high mountains, the snow will remain tough and cardboard-like.

STABILITY OF SNOW COVER: Snow cover is well stabilized as a whole.

The last snowfall dates back to two weeks and the structure of the snowpack is not unhealthy.

The risk of a slab avalanche cannot be completely ruled out, especially in the high mountains in the Mont Blanc massif because of fairly recent episodes.  However, any slabs are highly localized and not always easy to trigger.

As for spontaneous avalanches, rare departures carrying snow to the ground will still be possible, mainly in south-east direction to the southwest. These potential avalanches are moderate-sized, the focus on steep slopes with grass mid-mountain.

TREND LATER RISK: From Friday to Sunday, the risk is to remain unchanged.
Meteo-France updates this newsletter everyday at 16h or sooner if conditions warrant.