Hochschwab Mountains

Moderate avalanche danger at high altitude. Persistent weak layer on shady slopes. Heed small, fresh snowdrift patches.

Moderate avalanche danger at high altitude. Persistent weak layer on shady slopes. Heed small, fresh snowdrift patches.

Above the treeline, moderate danger prevails. Avalanche prone locations occur on shady slopes in transitions from shallow to deep snow (persistent weak layer), and on east-facing slopes and behind protruberances. In isolated cases, the weak layers in the old snow can trigger a medium-to-large sized avalanche. Atop this, fresh snow and winds have generated new snowdrift patches which can be triggered even by minimum additional loading. On sunny slopes, steep grass-covered terrain can expect naturally triggered glide-snow avalanches. Glide cracks (‘fishbones’) should be seen as red flags. In steep rough and rocky terrain, small moist loose-snow avalanches are possible during the course of the day.

A cold front on Friday brought 5-10 cm of fresh snow with strong NW winds. On sunny slopes the freshly generated snowdrift patches were deposited atop a melt-freeze crust. On shady slopes the snowpack surface was still soft, often even powdery. Bonding of snowdrifts to the old snowpack is poor on shady slopes. Thin snowdrift patches can be triggered. In addition, the weak layers deeper down inside the snowpack are a threat. On sunny slopes, glide cracks have formed on steep grass-covered slopes.

The precipitation will taper off and terminate on Friday night. Early morning on Saturday in Upper Styria there will still be residual cloud, the summits will be shrouded, but these will soon disperse on Saturday and the sun come out. Above the higher summits there will be outstanding visibility. At 2000 m: -6 degrees at midday; in the afternoon it will become milder in northern regions in particular. Winds will be light to start with, but intensify during the daytime, shift to southerly. Windspeeds: 20 - 50 km/hr.

On Sunday, slightly rising temperatures, largely sunny. Avalanche danger is not expected to change.