Západné Tatry

Watch out for wind-slabs and pillows

Watch out for wind-slabs and pillows

In all our mountain ranges above 1300 m above sea level, a second avalanche level is declared. Particularly dangerous are positions above the treeline, in narrow couloirs and on slopes under rock walls. It is not possible to distinguish the most dangerous aspects, because the wind was changable in recent days. But gradually northwest to north will prevail, so the newest slabs will form to the south and southeast. Snow stability is highly variable. Avalanche release is possible, especially on steep slopes above 40°, with small additional load. At lower altitudes below 1300 it has mainly rained or wet snow has fallen in recent days, so the situation is more stable here.

Up to 20 cm of new snow has fallen in the high altitudes of our mountains in the last two days. This is very unevenly distributed due to the changing wind direction. We expect snow slabs to form when the winds pick up. The moisture of the snow is very variable as it fell at temperatures around 0°C. A similar situation will continue, but as the weather cools, the snow surface will become drier and thus more susceptible to wind transport.

With snow and winds gently rising during the day. Compiled by: Pavel Krajčí