Avalanche Warnings in Switzerland to be modified starting this winter. The SLF is enhancing the precision by subdividing the danger levels. It will indicate whether the danger is towards the bottom end, in the middle or towards the top end of the reported level.
The SLF (Swiss Institute for Avalanche Research) says the new system will provide “users with more precise information for assessing the risk”.
The five danger levels themselves remain unchanged.
Georgia Tech engineering student Mirza Samnani volunteered over 1,000 hours to develop early warning systems for avalanches in Tajikistan.
Samnani hiked over 9,200 feet — three times — to install two weather stations in the village of Manem in Tajikistan. This project has the potential to affect more than 1 million people in hundreds of villages in the high mountainous regions of Central and South Asia including Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan that are prone to avalanches every winter. It can also be scaled to other parts of the world where avalanches pose a high risk.
The Indian Army and the Defence Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) have jointly installed the Avalanche Monitoring Radar, first of its kind in India, in north Sikkim.
Defence spokesman Lt. Col Mahendra Rawat said that the radar was inaugurated at an altitude of 15,000 feet in Sikkim.
This radar has the capability to detect avalanches within three seconds of their triggering and will assist in saving valuable life of troops and civilians , he said.
Can we use Artificial Intelligence for Avalanche Forecasting?
Even the best forecasters only reach about 75% accuracy in their avalanche predictions. After all, they are only human. One of the greatest challenges is in the fact that avalanche danger cannot be precisely measured or communicated. It is, therefore, a matter of expert assessment and opinion by humans.
Last season the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research successfully tested a first-of-its-kind, artificial intelligence computer program to assist in its avalanche forecasts. The SLF is a world leader in the field of avalanche forecasting and pushes the boundaries of avalanche forecasting methods.
Juneau’s urban avalanche forecast is for “extreme” Juneau avalanche danger as of Saturday evening. There is a potential for “historic avalanches” in residential areas. City officials recommend that residents in the avalanche zone in downtown Juneau evacuate their homes.
An Atal Tunnel avalanche occurred on the Manali-Leh highway but no loss of life or property damage was reported.
Due to the snowfall, traffic movement in Lahaul and Spiti came to a standstill. The residents of the Lahaul valley were cut off from the rest of the state after the road beyond the Solang valley towards Lahaul was blocked.
'Your life is not worth that day of powder skiing': Officials warn of severe avalanche risk.
Avalanche Canada is warning this is not the time to be in the backcountry. They are reminding those who want to venture out, to check forecasts before going.
This has been a deadly week in B.C.’s backcountry. On Monday two snow bikers were killed in an avalanche near Pemberton. Then on Thursday a backcountry skier fell into a tree well and died near Whistler.
The high pressure over Utah is finally breaking down and snow showers are expected this weekend. While that’s good news for the ski resorts, the conditions in the backcountry will become dangerous – even deadly conditions could exist.
The extreme avalanche situation in East Tyrol was made clear by an avalanche on Saturday evening in Prägraten am Großvenediger. Four houses and one vehicle were damaged. People were not injured. There were other snow avalanches with individual damaged buildings.
An avalanche accident killed one skier in Switzerland. Authorities in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden said one off-piste skier among a group of five people was killed after getting caught in an avalanche Monday in the Titlis area, south of Lucerne. Rescue teams were not able to resuscitate the 23-year-old Swiss citizen after he was rescued.
