*3.3. Climatic Analysis*

Climatic data analysis was carried out to outline the distribution of the climatic parameters and conditions in the study area. The analysis was based on a dataset obtained from a network of 7 gauges (colored dots in Figure 4; data provided by the Functional Center and Hydrographic Office of the Abruzzo Region and the *amateur meteorological association* L'Aquila Caput Frigoris—https://www.caputfrigoris.it/, accessed on 12 January 2021). More in detail, according to the lack of historical thermo–pluviometric series suiting the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) directives [98], climatic data belonging to the Pietracamela gauge (1043 m a.s.l.; blue dot in Figure 4) were used to quantify the microclimatic setting of the study area properly. Its dataset gathers thermo–pluviometric

series data covering a 50-year time record (1950–2004). Recently, three gauges, featuring technical elements in accordance with the WMO 1083 directives [98], were located at the Teramo (265 m a.s.l.; pink dot in Figure 4), near the tourist and ski facilities at Prati di Tivo (1450 m a.s.l.; green dot in Figure 4), and along the northeastern slope of Gran Sasso Massif at Rifugio Franchetti (2433 m a.s.l.; light blue dot in Figure 4). The northern exposure of these gauges provides a good representation of the climatic conditions occurring in correspondence with the detachment areas of snow avalanches, despite the lack in the snow datasets. Concerning the Rifugio Franchetti gauge, the available data covered different time records (1998–2003 and 2016–2018).
