ALERT: Extreme avalanche danger forecast Thursday for most of Svalbard; area near Longyearbyen also considered high-risk

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Travelers are being urged to avoid any potential avalanche-prone areas in most of Svalbard on Thursday, particularly along the east coast, due to a Level Four (“great”) risk rating, the second highest possible, according to a warning issued Wednesday by the Norwegian Avalanche Center. The rest of the archipelago is also considered to be at “considerable” risk.

“A large wind transport of of snow onto leeway slopes” is forecast, the warning states. “Avalanches can be triggered both naturally and by skiers. Avoid all avalanche terrain.”

Winds are expected to increase to gale strength in many parts of Svalbard late Wednesday, with up to 60 millimeters of precipitation in the form of snow and sleet on the east coast, and up to 30 millimeters in other areas. Tenmperatures are expected to be roughly around freezing.

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Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.

marksabbatini@yahoo.com

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