Chiemgau Alps East

Caution urged toward daytime avalanche danger cycle

Caution urged toward daytime avalanche danger cycle

Below 1500 m avalanche danger is moderate in the morning, below that altitude it is low, but at high altitude it rises to considerable during the course of the day. Main problem: fresh snow which is triggerable by a single person engaged in winter sports as slab avalanches or can release spontaneously as loose snow avalanches in steep rocky terrain. Frequency and size of avalanche prone locations increase with ascending altitude during the course of the day. Slab avalanches can be triggered adjacent to ridgelines behind abrupt changes in terrain and in gullies and bowls in all aspect. They can attain medium size.

Up to half a meter of new snow will fall while temperatures drop rapidly. At higher altitudes it will be deposited atop older snowdrift accumulations. Significant temperature variations within the snowpack promote the formation of weak intermediate layers consisting of faceted crystals. These are trigger-sensitive, in particular at high altitude. The snowfall is accompanied by strong westerly winds, meaning that extensive snowdrift accumulations are generated during the course of the day. At lower altitudes the fresh snow is deposited atop a thin moist snowpack or directly on the bare ground. At intermediate altitudes the snowpack is frequently wet down to the ground.

As the intensity of the precipitations decreases and the snowpack settles fast the danger of dry avalanches will decrease.