Reconstructing the Snow Avalanche of Coll de Pal 2018 (SE Pyrenees)

Developments in mountain areas prone to natural hazards produce undesired impacts and damages. Thus, disaster assessment is mandatory understand the physics of dangerous events make decisions prevent hazardous situations. This work focusses on practical implementation methods tools assess a snow avalanche that affected road at Coll de Pal 2018 (SE Pyrenees). quite common situation roads has focus specially avalanche–road interaction, return periods considered dynamics phenomena. presents field recognition, weather characterization numerical modelling avalanche. Field campaigns revealed evidences triggering, runout trajectory general behavior. An unstable snowpack due relatively large snowfall fallen some days before over previous with weak layers, caused triggering when an additional load was added by strong wind-drift episode. A medium size (<2500 m3) soft slab avalanche, corresponding period 15–20 years, occurred crossed pass. The event reproduced numerically means 2D-SWE based tool Iber aiming analyze Results simulation corresponded observations (runout deposit); thus, relevant information about could be obtained. Identified differences probably come from terrain elevation data, which represent “snow free” topography do not consider terrain.