Osterhorn Group,Gamsfeld Group

Beware small snowdrift accumulations

Beware small snowdrift accumulations

Avalanche danger is low. At high altitudes, fresh small snowdrift accumulations are often triggerable by 1 person, esp in gullies and bowls. The dnager of falling outweighs that of snow masses. Latent danger of glide-snow avalanches persists. In high starting zones, avalanches can reach medium-to-large size. Avoid zones below glide cracks.

Weak layers occur esp. in near-surface layers of the snowpack. Due to the lower temperatures on Saturday, weak and trigger-prone layers can occur between old snow and fresh drifts (cold on warm). Other weak layers occur inside the drifts. More deeply embedded weak layers of faceted crystals near crusts are triggerable only in isolated cases. All in all, 5-15 cm of fresh snow is expected by Sunday afternoon, irregularly distributed due to wind impact.

In the wake of the cold front, weather will remain instable in evening and into the night, though showers will taper off significantly and clouds could disperse. In early morning the showers will be more frequent along the Northern Alps. The westerly winds will be brisk to stormy. On Sunday, showers possible right from the start, usually heavy cloud cover, not much sun, reduced visibility. Favored are the Lungau Nockberge, clouds will be scattered. All in all, not much more than 10 cm of fresh snow is expected, possibly more in some spots of the Northern Alps. The westerly winds in the northern ranges will be gusty (70 km/hr). At 2000 m: -6 degrees; at 3000 m: -14 degrees.

Avalanche danger levels are not expected to change significantly.