Ybbstaler Alpen

Danger from fresh wind slab increases with altitude!

Danger from fresh wind slab increases with altitude!

The avalanche risk at higher altitudes is moderate (level 2). Fresh wind slab avalanches can be triggered in places even with a small additional load. Slab avalanches are mainly triggered at the transition to old snowpack.

Avalanche prone locations are in gullies, bowls and behind terrain edges as well as down into forest aisles. The wind slab covers existing avalanche prone locations, which often makes them difficult to recognise. The avalanche prone locations increase with altitude.

Slab avalanches can reach medium size.

In the past week, snow has repeatedly fallen in combination with strong to stormy winds. The new fallen snow was transported intensively and formed drift snow packs. Exposed areas are often heavily blown down.

The fresh drift and new fallen snow is poorly bonded to the old snowpack in some places. In some places, there are also weak layers within the wind slab.

In shady high altitudes, there are still faceted crystals or floating snow in the persistent weak layer in places, but these are currently hardly prone to triggering and do not pose a significant avalanche problem.

The sky will remain mostly cloudy, with a few snowflakes falling in the northern congestion. Thick clouds will often prevail over the Lower Austrian mountain peaks on Maundy Thursday and it will occasionally snow lightly over the western peaks. Over the eastern mountain peaks, winds from the north will be stormy in places, but weaker towards the west. Temperatures at 1500m around -2 °C

The avalanche danger will remain the same for the time being. However, the avalanche situation is expected to change as temperatures rise towards the weekend.