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Information Note issued on 11/6/2017 at 01:30 p.m.


 
 
    
 



A north-east perturbation has brought rain and snow during the weekend, starting from Saturday evening. Precipitation was more intense in the south-eastern sector and along the bordering ridge, the winds at 3000 m were moderate to strong, first from south (during the snowfall), then by N-NE with foehn in the valleys (after the snowfall).

Fresh snow
The rain/snow limit has been at 1700-1800 m (few cm).
The amounts of fresh snow recorded are 10-15 cm at 2000 m, 20-25 cm between 2200 m and 2500 m along the ridges bordering with Switzerland and Piedmont (then from Gran San Bernardo to the heads of Cervinia and Monterosa valleys and in the heads of the Gran Paradiso and Champorcher valleys), with a maximum of 30 cm recorded at Gabiet. While in the north-west and central parts of the Valle d'Aosta the amounts are slightly lower.
The snow is wet up to 2500 m, more and more dry and cold moving up above this altitude.

Wind and temperatures
At the end of the snowfall, from Sunday afternoon, moderate-strong N-NEwinds began to blow, which resulted in a strong snowdrifting (bumps and ridges are already eroded) and in a sharp fall in temperatures with average values (at 8.00 am) of -3°C at 2000, -8°C at 2500 m and -12°C at 3000 m (-20°C at the Margherita hut, 4560 m).

Typical avalanche problem
The moderate/strong winds, from S during the snowfall, from N-NE after, promptly wind-drifted the fresh snow: the typical avalanche problem is linked to the wind-drifted snow, with the possible release of dry snow slabs (already reported with weak overload), at high altitude (> 3200 m) where the slabs (up to 1 m thick) stand on ice, the most critical are the southern aspects for the action of cold winds from N-NE, still in progress.

Trend
Today some weak snowfall are still expected, especially in the southern areas, and a new depression will result in a modest perturbation in the middle of the week.


The next report will be issued depending on the evolution of the snow and weather conditions.

SNOW AND WEATHER CONDITIONS OF THE 7 LAST DAYS  
 Monte Bianco Gran San Bernardo Gran Paradiso Monte Rosa

EUROPEAN AVALANCHE DANGER SCALE Rising avalanche danger during the day
 
5
VERY HIGH
 
4
HIGH
 
3
CONSIDERABLE
 
2
MODERATE
 
1
LOW