Bex-Villars

Weakly bonded old snow on north facing slopes. Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area.

In isolated cases avalanches can be triggered in the weakly bonded old snow and reach large size in some cases. These avalanche prone locations are to be found in particular on steep north facing slopes and in areas where the snow cover is rather shallow. Additionally in some places avalanches can also be released in near-surface layers. Backcountry touring calls for experience in the assessment of avalanche danger and caution.

Snowpack On north-facing slopes above 2200 m more than anywhere else, there are expansively metamorphosed (faceted) weak layers evident inside the snowpack over widespread areas. In the Valais and on the northern flank of the Alps these weak layers are for the most part thickly blanketed over with fresher snow. Avalanches in those areas can most likely trigger in those deeply embedded expansively metamorphosed (faceted) layers in places where the snow is rather shallow, and subsequently grow to large size. In Grisons and in the Ticino, these weak layers are located nearer to the snow surface and thereby are still easier to trigger. As a consequence of the intensive solar radiation and the ongoing rise in temperatures, medium-sized, in the western regions also large-sized wet-snow and gliding avalanches can be expected. Observed weather review Thursday, 16.03.2023 Following a night of predominantly clear nocturnal skies on Wednesday night it will be quite sunny during the daytime hours on Thursday. Fresh snow - Temperature At midday at 2000 m, between +3 °C in the western regions and 0 °C in the eastern and the southern regions. Wind Winds during the nighttime hours will be blowing intermittently at moderate to strong velocity, during the daytime hours blowing at light to moderate strength from westerly to northwesterly directions. Weather forecast through Friday, 17.03.2023 Nighttime skies on Thursday will be partly clear. During the daytime hours on Friday it will be quite sunny in spite of cirrus clouds. Fresh snow - Temperature At midday at 2000 m, in the northern regions +7 °C and in the southern regions 0 °C; the zero-degree level will lie at approximately 3400 m. Wind Winds will be blowing at light to moderate strength from southwesterly directions, in the foehn-impacted regions of the north moderate-strength southerly foehn wind will prevail. Outlook through Sunday, 19.03.2023 On Saturday it will be sunny to start with. During the course of the day, cloud cover will move in from the west, but it is expected to remain dry. On Saturday night and during the daytime hours on Sunday, skies will be predominantly overcast in the western regions, a bit of intermittent snowfall is anticipated. The snowfall level will lie at 1500 m. In the eastern regions it will be partly sunny and dry. The danger of dry-snow avalanches is expected to gradually decrease. As a consequence of daytime warming, wet-snow and gliding avalanches can be expected on Saturday in particular.