Significant avalanche risk exists in five Swedish mountain areas, according to Lavinprognoser.se. The risk level is three on the five-point scale, and skiers and snowmobile users are urged to be cautious. The forecast applies until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's site Lavinprognoser.se, significant avalanche risk prevails in western Härjedalsfjällen, southern Jämtlandsfjällen, southern Lapplandsfjällen, western Vindelfjällen, and Abisko/Riksgränsfjällen. The risk level is three on the five-point avalanche scale, indicating dangerous conditions where people are likely to trigger avalanches and spontaneous ones are possible.
Skiers and snowmobile users risk triggering avalanches from wind slabs, which can release weakened deeper snow layers and result in unexpectedly large avalanches. The most dangerous areas are slabs on the lee sides of mountains, and terrain below steep slopes should be avoided. Snowdrifts have created difficult conditions for some time, and many avalanches have already occurred.
In Kebnekaisefjällen, the avalanche risk is assessed as moderate, level two on the scale. The avalanche scale is divided as follows: level one is low risk with generally safe conditions; level two moderate with dangerous conditions in parts of the terrain; level three significant with dangerous conditions; level four high with very dangerous conditions; and level five very high with certain avalanches.
The forecast is valid until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The information comes from TT and Lavinprognoser.se.