Lower Tauern South

Caution urged on shallow-snow northern high alpine slopes

Caution urged on shallow-snow northern high alpine slopes

Moderate avalanche danger above 2300m, below 2300m danger is low. Main problem: trigger-sensitive intermediate layers at ground-level in the old snow. Isolated slab avalanches can be triggered on shady steep slopes be large additional loading, particularly where the snow is shallow, i.e. at entries to gullies and bowls. Triggered avalanches can be of small-to-medium size.

Melt-freeze encrusted surfaces (hard as steel, icy, breakable, snowdrift patches, melt-freeze from the rain) dominate. Inside the snowpack the recent layers are relatively well bonded. A potential trigger-sensitive layer of faceted and soft snow is at high altitudes. The tendency towards fracture propagation is moderate to strong.

On Thursday clouds will pass through, the summit will remain free but light conditions will become diffuse. Milder: at 2000 m, 0 degrees. Westerly winds will reach 30-40 km/hr in exposed terrain, up to 60 km/hr on the Alpine rim in the afternoon On Friday in the furthermost north, a small amount of snowfall (rain below 1600 m) is possible, but soon thereafter dry weather will set in. Particularly in inneralpine regions the sun will come through. Strong W/NW winds in exposed terrain above the treeline. At 2000 m: 0 degrees, at 3000 m: -5 degrees.

Still no significant change. Only when the next round of snowfall arrives will the situation change significantly atop the unfavourable snow base.