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.

N74311211
SNOW AND AVALANCHE BULLETIN SNOW AND AVALANCHE FOR HAUTE SAVOIE
(VALID OFF OF OPEN AND MARKED RUNS)
PREPARED ON MONDAY 31 DECEMBER
FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 1
ESTIMATE OF RISK UNTIL TUESDAY EVENING:
All massive Haute-Savoie: limited risk (level 2).

WEATHER OVERVIEW UNTIL TUESDAY EVENING: Good weather.

Isothermal 0 DG: 2000 m, with cold air at low altitude.
Wind at 2000 m: Slow.
Wind at 4000 m: North-west, 50 km / h.

SNOW CONDITIONS: They are correct but nothing more. Skiing starts from 800 to 1000 m in general in northern slopes, 1200 meters in the south. The snow is intermittent at altitude following episodes of strong wind: The ridges are sometimes dismantled and bowls are well loaded. Beware of the snow bridges that can be fragile on the lower parts of the glaciers.

Quality of snow for Tuesday: In mid mountain, you will find mostly powdery snow conditions, but the layer of powder is not very thick and will badly mask a hard, traffolée snow. In southern slopes, the snow will already be a little crusty at low altitude, it will become wet during the day.
In the high mountains and on the high peaks mid-mountain, the snow is mostly hard packed by the wind.

STABILITY OF SNOW COVER: Still a few small, fragile slabs.

Deep down, the snowpack is generally well stabilized. The problems come from the small layer of new snow from Saturday night (about 10 cm). In fact, after more than 15 days of good weather, the recent snow rests, in quite a number of slopes, on an old snow without cohesion, with the exception of slopes facing south.

Therefore, mainly in the eastern, northern, or western hills, it will still be possible to trigger a few small brittle slabs with the transition to a single skier. These slabs are usually in areas of accumulated snow blown by the wind, based on the old powdery snow without cohesion. Despite their low thickness, these possible small slabs can unbalance a skier, therefore attention to the configuration of the terrain and the presence of any rock bars down, or bottlenecks.

As to the risk of spontaneous avalanches, it will be low. Only a tiny cast of wet snow may occur in the southern slopes mid-mountain, mid-day and afternoon, or possibly even a small avalanche carrying snow to the ground on a steep grassy, sunny slope at moderate altitude.

TREND LATER RISK Wednesday, the risk is expected to be down slightly.
Meteo-France updates this newsletter everyday at 16h or sooner if conditions warrant.