südliches Urseren

Moderate avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area. Weakly bonded old snow in the inneralpine regions

Moderate avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area. Weakly bonded old snow in the inneralpine regions

Weak layers exist in the bottom section of the snowpack, especially on steep north facing slopes above approximately 2400 m, as well as on steep south facing slopes above approximately 2800 m. Persons can release avalanches in some places. The avalanche prone locations are barely recognisable, even to the trained eye. Areas where the snow cover is rather shallow are especially precarious. Mostly the avalanches are medium-sized. Backcountry touring and other off-piste activities call for careful route selection. On steep south facing slopes wet snow slides are possible as the day progresses.

The snowpack surface shows striking effects from rain, wind and sun. It is encrusted or even iced over up to altitudes of 2600 to 3000 m on the northern flank of the Alps, in the Valais, in northern Ticino and in most parts of Grisons. On steep sunny slopes it softens and slushes up during the course of the day. On the northern flank of the Alps, there is little likelihood of slab avalanches fracturing down to more deeply embedded layers of the snowpack. From central Valais over the northern Ticino as far as Grisons, the snowpack is either expansively metamorphosed (faceted) and loose immediately beneath the surface crust, or else deeper-down layers are weak and prone to triggering in some places. This applies to north-facing slopes above approximately 2400 m and south-facing slopes above approximately 2800 m more than anywhere else.

It was sunny and mild in the mountains. Fresh snow: - Temperature: At midday at 2000 m, between +11 °C in the western and the southern regions and +8 °C in the eastern regions. Wind: Winds were westerly, - during the nocturnal hours of New Year's Eve blowing at moderate strength; - during the daytime hours of New Year's Day slackening off, blowing predominantly at light strength during the afternoon, blowing at moderate strength in some places at high altitude. Following a night of predominantly clear skies it will be rather sunny in northern regions during the morning, predominantly sunny in the Valais and in the southern regions. During the afternoon, cloud cover will increase from the northwest, in the southern regions it will remain mostly sunny. Fresh snow: - Temperature: At midday at 2000 m, between +5 °C in the northern regions and +7 °C in the southern regions. Wind: Winds will be westerly, - intensifying slightly during the nighttime hours and the following morning; - subsequently in the northern regions and at high altitudes, incrementally intensifying, blowing at moderate to strong velocity; - in the southern regions blowing at moderate strength.

On both days, skies in the northern regions will be variably cloudy to heavily overcast. In the southern regions it will be rather sunny on Monday, only partly sunny on Tuesday. Winds will be westerly, blowing predominantly at strong to storm strength. On both days a small amount of precipitation is anticipated in the northern regions. The amounts of expected precipitation are still uncertain. The snowfall level on Monday will lie at approximately 1600 m, on Tuesday at approximately 2000 m. Avalanche danger levels could increase in the northern regions starting on Monday, in the southern regions danger levels are not expected to change significantly.