Avalanche bulletins smart home integration, free and open source
Avalanche danger by massif or zone: Météo-France (BERA) in France, avalanche centers in the US.
Published by guim31
- Devices
- Version 1.1.0
- Requires Gladys >=5.3.0
- ★ 0
The avalanche danger bulletin (BERA) of Météo-France in Gladys, for the 35 French massifs of the Alps, the Pyrenees and Corsica: one device per massif, with its danger level from 1 to 5, the trend for the next day, the most exposed aspects and the snow depth. Scene triggers and a dashboard widget come with it.
Read the full bulletin before going out. This integration shows a summary of it. It does not replace the bulletin, the forecaster's text, nor your own assessment in the field.
Not affiliated with Météo-France.
New in 1.1: the avalanche centers of the United States. See US avalanche centers.
What you get
- One device per massif you choose: Mont-Blanc, Belledonne, Aspe-Ossau, Cinto-Rotondo…
- The danger level of the bulletin's day (European scale, 1 Low to 5 Very high), and the trend for the day after.
- The level below and above the split altitude, and that altitude (0 when the bulletin gives one level for the whole massif).
- The most exposed aspects, the date of issue and the end of validity.
- The snow depth on the north and south sides at the top altitude of the bulletin's table (2000 m in the Prealps, Corsica and the Basque Country, 2500 m elsewhere).
- Bulletin in force: 1 while a bulletin covers the current time, 0 otherwise (off season).
- Two scene triggers and a dashboard widget.
Requirements
- Gladys Assistant 5.3.0 or later.
- Internet access from Gladys. No account and no key: the bulletins come from the open archive of Météo-France on data.gouv.fr.
- Météo-France issues the bulletins from early November to early June, usually around 4 pm for the next day. Off season the devices say "no bulletin in force", without error.
Configuration
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Massifs and zones | none | The massifs (France) and zones (US) to follow, one device each. |
| Météo-France API key | empty | Optional: reads the bulletins from the DPBRA API instead of the archive. |
| Language of the feature names | French | Names of the features of new devices, and language of their texts and variables. |
Save, then open the Discover tab of the integration and create the devices you want.
Optional: the Météo-France API key
The open archive is enough in normal times. If it lags behind (the bulletin of the day does not show in the evening), create a free account on the Météo-France API portal, subscribe to the "Bulletin d'estimation du risque d'avalanche" (DPBRA) API, generate an API key and paste it in the configuration. The integration then asks Météo-France directly, one request per massif every 30 minutes. This path was developed from the API documentation, without a key: feedback welcome. The link to the PDF of the bulletin is only available from the archive.
US avalanche centers
The forecast zones of the US avalanche centers (83 zones in 12 states: Alaska, Utah, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, California…) are in the same list, after the French massifs, as "State · center · zone", for example "Utah · UAC · Salt Lake". Each becomes a device with the danger level of the day and of the next day (the North American scale has the same five levels), the most exposed aspects, the date of issue, the end of validity and "bulletin in force". A center gives no split altitude and no snow depth: those features are absent, never 0. The widget shows the levels below, near and above treeline, the center's "bottom line" (in English) and a button to the official forecast of the zone on the center's site. The scene triggers work the same way.
- The US centers publish only during their season (roughly from November to April, each center its own dates). Off season, or on a day without a danger rating, the device only says "no bulletin in force", and the widget links to the center's forecast.
- Not offered: the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), whose zones are redrawn during the season and have no stable name.
- The forecasts come from the public API of avalanche.org, without an account, one request per zone every 30 minutes. Not affiliated with avalanche.org nor with the centers.
Devices
| Feature | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Avalanche danger (1-5) | number | Highest level of the bulletin's day |
| Danger trend, next day | number | Level forecast for the day after |
| Danger below the split altitude | number | Level under the split altitude (or whole massif) |
| Danger above the split altitude | number | Level over the split altitude (or whole massif) |
| Split altitude | metres | 0 without a split |
| Most exposed aspects | text | "N, NE, NW", "All aspects" or "No aspect singled out" |
| Bulletin issued on | text | Date and time of issue |
| Valid until | text | End of validity (6 pm the next day) |
| Snow on north / south side | centimetres | Snow depth at 2000 or 2500 m depending on the massif |
| Bulletin in force | on / off | 1 while the bulletin is valid |
The levels are numbers (not the Gladys "risk" badge, which only knows four levels), so a scene condition such as "danger ≥ 4" works. When no bulletin is in force, only "Bulletin in force" is updated: the other values are not invented and simply age.
Dashboard widget
Avalanche danger: without a massif chosen, one line per followed massif (10 at most) with its level written like the official pictogram ("4 · High") and the next-day trend, coloured green (1), yellow (2) or red (3 and more). With a massif chosen: the danger and next-day tiles, the levels below and above the split altitude, the aspects, the snow depth, the validity, the forecaster's comment and a button to the PDF of the bulletin. The comment and the button each have a setting to hide them.
Scene triggers
- Avalanche danger reaches a level: a new bulletin raises the danger of a massif to the chosen level (2 to 5) or above. It fires once, when the level is crossed upwards: from 2 to 4, "reaches 3" and "reaches 4" both fire. Variables: massif, level, level name, end of validity.
- New avalanche bulletin: Météo-France issues a new bulletin for a massif. Variables: massif, level, level name, next-day trend, end of validity, summary of the bulletin (in French, as written by Météo-France), link to the PDF.
The very first bulletin read after the installation only sets the reference: it fires nothing.
Scene examples
- At 6 pm, if the danger of your massif is 4 or more, send a message "Avalanche danger {{level}} tomorrow".
- On a new bulletin, send its summary and the link to the PDF to the family group.
Data sources, licence and quotas
- Bulletins © Météo-France, archive of the avalanche bulletins on data.gouv.fr, Licence Ouverte 2.0. Read every 30 minutes: one small index file, and the bulletin of a massif only when a new one appears.
- Optional DPBRA API of Météo-France: one request per massif every 30 minutes, far below the 50 requests per minute of the portal.
- US forecasts: public API of avalanche.org (National Avalanche Center and the US avalanche centers), one request per zone every 30 minutes.
Troubleshooting
- "No bulletin in force" in season, in the evening: the archive may lag behind; wait for the next cycle (30 minutes), or add an API key (see above).
- "Météo-France refused the API key": check the key in the configuration, or empty it to use the archive.
- The connection status says the bulletins cannot be read: data.gouv.fr or Météo-France is unreachable. The last values are kept and the integration tries again every 30 minutes.
Limits
- Developed without a winter in progress: the bulletins of the 2025-2026 season were used for the tests, but the delay of the archive during the season is not measured yet. Feedback welcome.
- A summary of the bulletin only: the texts on the snowpack, the weather and the snow quality stay in the PDF.
- Andorra is not covered: Météo-France publishes no bulletin for it.
- US zones: developed at the very start of the season, with few rated zones; tested against the real API, but feedback welcome. A forecast corrected without a new date of issue is read at the next issue only.
Configuration settings
These are the settings Avalanche bulletins asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your massifs and zones | section | No | Choose the massifs (France) or forecast zones (US) to follow: one device each, with its avalanche danger level (1 to 5), the next-day trend and the most exposed aspects, and the snow depth in France. Save, then create the devices in the Discover tab. |
| Sources and limits | section | No | France: bulletins © Météo-France (Licence Ouverte 2.0), early November to early June. US: forecasts of the avalanche centers via avalanche.org, in season only. A summary, not a safety tool: read the full bulletin. Not affiliated with them. |
| Massifs and zones | multi_select | No | One device per massif or zone chosen. The US zones come after the French massifs, by state. |
| Météo-France API key (optional) | secret | No | Leave empty: the open archive of data.gouv.fr is enough. If it lags behind, a free key of the Météo-France API portal (DPBRA API) reads the bulletins straight from Météo-France. |
| Language of the feature names | select | No | Names given to the features of new devices (Avalanche danger, Valid until…) and language of their texts (aspects, dates, scene variables). |
How to install Avalanche bulletins in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: Avalanche bulletins appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-avalanche:1.1.0), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-avalanche.
Avalanche bulletins requires Gladys >=5.3.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.
Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.
About external integrations
Avalanche bulletins is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.
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- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation