Lower Tauern Central

Avoid fresh wind slab!

The night will be cloudy and largely free of precipitation. The southerly foehn becomes stronger during the night and reaches speeds of around 80 km/h. On Thursday, the stormy south wind will ease during the day. A moderate northerly wind will blow in the afternoon. Visibility will deteriorate rapidly and light to moderate snowfall will set in from midday. Temperatures at 2000 metres will be around -3 degrees.

On the main ridge and in Lungau, a strong northerly foehn will blow on Friday, forming fresh wind slab. The avalanche risk remains considerable above the tree line.

Avoid fresh wind slab!

The avalanche risk is considerable above the tree line and low below. The situation is precarious for winter sports. In some places, medium-sized slab avalanches can easily be triggered by individuals on slopes of all aspects and especially in foehn corridors. In particular on north-west to north to east-facing slopes above 2000 metres, avalanches triggered on the surface can tear through to deeper layers and become large. Danger areas are sometimes barely recognisable and require a defensive choice of route. Be careful in particular near transitions from little to much snow, behind terrain edges, in the entrance areas to steep gullies and bowls and also in the forest boundary area or in forest aisles. Remote triggering is possible and naturally triggered avalanches can also occur on very steep terrain.

In the past few days, around half a metre of new fallen snow has been transported extensively and is very prone to triggering. Fresh and older, over-snowed wind slab snow overlay soft layers of faceted crystals and deep rime. In wind-protected areas, on shady slopes above about 2000 m, on sunny slopes above 2400 m, surface hoar has also been snowed in in places. Fractures occur either in soft layers near the surface or around the crust that forms the transition to the completely angular old snowpack. In general, areas with little snow alternate with sometimes considerable snowdrift accumulations in a confined space.