Avalanche bulletin and weather forecast 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.

N73280311
BULLETIN FOR ESTIMATING THE RISK OF AVALANCHES
FOR SAVOIE
Valid off marked and open trails
FOR SATURDAY, 29 MARCH 2008
(Drafted Friday, March 28)

ESTIMATE OF RISK UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING:
Of all the mass of Savoy:
-- Above 1800/2200 m: RISK MARK - Level 3
-- Below 1800/2200 m: LIMIT RISK - Level 2 evolves day RISK MARK - Level 3.

WEATHER OVERVIEW UNTIL SATURDAY EVENING:
Passages of clouds at night with very weak precipitation (less than 5 cm of snow). Then sunny day. The wind from west-northwest wind fort at night in high mountains, but also temporarily lower especially at the edge of Piedmont and on the tops of the Bauges.
Isothermal 0 ° C to 2000, then 1400, then 2400 meters.
Wind General to 3000 m: West and Northwest night 20/40 locally 50/70 km / h on the edge of Piedmont, Northwest and West 20/50 and 10/20 day km / h.

SNOW CONDITIONS:
They are excellent, with layers of snow on the ground in most cases higher than the averages for the end of March, very close to or lower than locally. There are 20 to 100 cm at 1500 m and 140 cm in Bauges and Beaufortain, 70 to 190 cm at 2000 m and 280 cm in Beaufortain. The lower limit of snow skiing ranges between 900 and 1500 m.
The snow surface is crusty in the morning below 1000/1500 m. In the slopes most exposed to the effects of solar radiation, the crust is superficial until 1500/1800 m then covered with a little snow recently until at least 2300 m. Elsewhere, the recent snow cover is more or less packed, there is still little consolidated from 15 to 35 cm at 2000 m, or cardboard or cured by the wind mostly in the high mountains. Saturday morning, the surface crust may be present earlier.

STABILITY OF SNOW COVER:
SOME SLABS AT ALTITUDE and SOME NATURAL DEPARTURES
The snow continues its recent decline especially in the sun.
The very low expected snow does not alter the snowpack stability. However, the winds expected in the night to train with the recent snow, some new accumulations and superficial slabs especially in the high mountains, but also notably lower at the edge of Piedmont and on the tops of the Bauges.
Other slabs more or less trained hard recently by the strong wind of Northwest remain mostly above 1800/2200 m. The attrition of smal hard surface slabs are still reported today in the hills south-2200 m. Others have been triggered artificially wide variety of exhibits.

The accidental risk therefore remains marked, especially over 1800/2200 m depending on the mass. A small surcharge as the passage of a single skier can be enough to trigger a surface slab more or less harsh, especially in the low slopes suffering the effect of solar radiation but also in other exhibitions as East to South-East to 'sheltered from the wind. A higher surcharge as the passage of several skiers or snowboarders or raquettistes can trigger a slab avalanche more or less thick mobilizing sometimes a fairly large amount of snow.

Some natural attrition will occur through the night wind and then the sun and softness in the day. Some superficial casts and sometimes snow avalanches more or less recent wet or brittle slabs will occur just all altitudes during the day but mostly below 2500 m in exposed sunny slopes to the east and then to the South, then to the West. We can not exclude an avalanche substantive steep grassy or rocky slabs. A surcharge greater or lesser degree can promote their outbreak.

TREND LATER RISK:
Stationary or slightly down for Sunday.

Weather updates France this newsletter everyday at 16h.