15.01.2019 | 6pm | News SLF
The extraordinary avalanche situation has passed.
Between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning on the northern Alpine Ridge, in parts of the Valais, in northern Grisons and in the Lower Engadine, there was 80 to 120 cm of fresh snow registered over widespread areas, as much as 160 cm in some places. On Monday in these regions, numerous naturally triggered, to some extent extremely large-sized avalanches, were released. Also on Tuesday, very large avalanches were triggered naturally, although less frequently. The avalanche danger levels are diminishing.
For Wednesday morning, 16 January 2019, danger level 3 (considerable) is forecast. The valid and applicable instructions of the government authorities and local safety organisations must still be obeyed precisely and without delay. For snow sports in outlying terrain away from secured and marked ski runs, an optimal, prudently planned route selection and the application of risk-minimizing measures are required.
There has been a great deal of snowfall. There is a lot of snow on the ground.
Most of the snow has fallen in the northeastern regions of the Swiss Alps. In those regions, approximately two to three times as much snow is on the ground as is average for mid-January. At some longstanding measurement stations, this is a record for this juncture of the season. Also the overall sums of daily snowfall over the last two weeks are extraordinary: they amount to two to three metres, in St. Antönien as much as 357 cm. Such amounts of fresh fallen snow are, statistically seen, evident only every thirty years or even more seldom.
The next Avalanche Bulletin will be published on Wednesday, 16 January 2019, at 8:00 am.
Important additional information:
- The complete Avalanche Bulletin
- What the avalanche danger levels mean