Hochschwab Mountains

Storm winds and fresh snow

Storm winds and fresh snow

Avalanche danger in this regions is considerable above the treeline. Freshly generated cornices are instable. Avalanche prone locations are found in N/E aspects where there is fresh snow near ridgelines that can be triggered by minimum additional loading.

Current weather conditions have an unfavourable effect on the snowpack. Flucturations in winds strengths and directions are generating wide-ranging and trigger-sensitive snowdrift accumulations. Over the last 24 hours there has been 20-30 cm of fresh snow registered. Soft layers of loosely-packed snow blanket surface hoar. Transition zones to melt-freeze crusts weaken the snowpack layering. At high altitudes the snowdrifts lie deposited either atop a layer of surface hoar or atop a hardened layer.

On Friday, winds will temporarily shift to southwesterly. In the Northern Alps, foehn wind will prevail. In the morning, sunshine will predominate, in the afternoon cloud banks will move in from the west. The higher peaks of Niedere Tauern will be veiled in cloud. It will remain cold: at 2000 m, -8 degrees. Saturday: Brisk to strong NW winds, very cold. On the southern flank of the Alps, hardly any snow, winds will not be as strong.

No significant increase in avalanche danger is expected.