Fischbach Alps East, Wechsel

Fresh snow above the treeline

Fresh snow above the treeline

Avalanche danger is moderate above the treeline. The snowdrifts can be triggered by winter sports enthusiasts, release slab avalanches. Danger zones increase with ascending altitude and are hard to spot due to poor visibility. In addition, hillsides can release wet-snow and glide-snow avalanches naturally which can even reach exposed transportation routes.

Since Friday morning there has been up to 40 cm of fresh snow registered, deposited atop a moist old snowpack surface or on bare ground. Bonding is insufficient. Snowdrift accumulations are being generated near ridgelines and behind abrupt drops in the terrain which are sometimes large-sized. Inside the drifts are sometimes weak faceted layers which weaken the snow mass further.

An occlusion of a low-pressure front is bringing us dense clouds, poor visibility and precipitation. The snowfall level will lie at 800-1200 m north Main Alpine Ridge, on the southern flank of the Alps at 1100-1500 m. Heaviest snowfall will be in the Dachstein, Totes Gebirge and Hochschwab regions, where from Friday to Saturday 40-80 cm of fresh snow can fall. Towards east and south, intensity of snowfall will ease, in Niedere Tauern up to 30 cm is expected, in Gurktal and Seetal Alps and the rimline ranges, hardly any precipitation. Winds will be westerly, strong in the Northern Alps and gusty, only light in the southern regions. In the Northern Alps at 2000 m: -5 degrees; at 1000 m: 0 degrees, in the south higher.

On Sunday, low-pressure front conditions will determine the weather, dense cloud, repeated precipitation is possible. Snowfall level will ascend. Danger of wet-snow avalanches will increase somewhat. At high altitudes the snowdrifts will continue to remain prone to triggering.