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.

N74190211
BULLETIN FOR ESTIMATING THE RISK OF AVALANCHES
FOR HAUTE SAVOIE
Valid off marked and open trails
FOR WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2008
(Drafted Tuesday, February 19)

ESTIMATE OF RISK UNTIL WEDNESDAY EVENING:
All massive Haute-Savoie: Low risk (level 1).

OVERVIEW WEATHER UNTIL WEDNESDAY EVENING:
Skies become increasingly cloudy in the day Wednesday.

Isothermal 0 1800 m.
Wind at 2000 m: Southwest, 20 to 40 km / h.
Wind at 4000 m: South-west then west 20 to 30 km / h.

SNOW CONDITIONS:
The snow is a little low but largely correct for a mid-February, it is mainly in the southern slopes that the deficit is well marked. It is therefore fitting the skis 1000 m in the cold and shady valleys, circa 1400 to 1700 m in the South.

Quality of snow on Wednesday:
Versants South: The snow will last until about 3000 m. The thaw will concern only the low altitude because of the sunshine disrupted by clouds.
Versants North: After almost two weeks of fine weather, all rides and off-road tracks are very classic. In sectors remained poorly attended, there is a snow crust at low altitude or in the sunny slopes moderately, while in the colder snow is usually a powder dense. The windy places often have a hard snow or ice.

STABILITY OF SNOW COVER:
Coat well snowy stable, except for a few departures slabs of substance.

The probability of a slab avalanche, even with the passage of a group of people, remain low. But we can not totally ignore this risk, especially in the steep and routes where snow has remained "cold".

On the other hand, rare spontaneous avalanches are possible (but less likely these days): These potential avalanches, carrying snow to the ground, are usually small and can be activated on some steep slopes of average Mountain oriented more or less in the South, even in the West, particularly in the event of grassy ground or rock slabs.

TREND LATER RISK:
Thursday and Friday, the risk to remain unchanged.

Meteo-France updates this newsletter everyday at 16h or sooner if conditions warrant.