Northern Cairngorms - Issued 08/02/2010
Avalanche Hazard Forecast
FOR PERIOD 18:00HRS Mon 08/02/2010 TO 18:00HRS Tue 09/02/2010
| Hazard Level | Avalanche Probability |
| Low | Natural Avalanches very unlikely. Human triggered avalanches not likely. |
| Moderate | Natural Avalanches unlikely. Human triggered avalanches possible. |
| Considerable | Natural Avalanches possible. Human triggered avalanches are likely. |
| High | Natural and Human triggered avalanches will occur. |
| Very High | Widespread Natural and Human triggered avalanches will occur. |
| VIEW EUROPEAN AVALANCHE HAZARD SCALE FOR FURTHER DETAILS | |
Localized Avalanche Hazard
Forecasted Weather Influences
Overnight the wind will be moderate North-Westerly with some snow, during the day the wind will become North-Easterly with snow showers. The freezing level will be at 300 metres.
Forecasted Snow Stability and Avalanche Hazard
Accumulations of poorly bonded windslab will form on mainly South to Westerly aspects above 900 metres, adding to the existing, weakly bonded windslab located on West aspects at 1000 metres. Isolated windslab deposits will also form in sheltered, localised areas on other aspects due to cross loading. Elsewhere the snowpack is generally well bonded and stable. The avalanche hazard will be Considerable
Observed Avalanche Hazard - Mon 08/02/2010
Observed Weather Influences
It has been a colder day with moderate East-North-Easterly winds on the tops and some snow showers.
Observed Snow Stability and Avalanche Hazard
The snowpack has refrozen and is generally well bonded and stable on all aspects and at all altitudes. Some new drifting has taken place and has formed localised shallow deposits of windslab on mainly steep sheltered areas on South West through West to Northerly aspects above 900 metres. These deposits although localised are weakly bonded, field tests on a Westerly aspect produced failures in the surface layers on a layer of buried graupel. The avalanche hazard is Moderate
Mountain Conditions
| Snow Distribution | Good cover above 400m, now firm and hard. |
| Icing | Good snow-ice on crags in gullies and slopes |
| Comment | Good climbing conditions with some pockets of new snow. |
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