Koralpe East

Moderate danger of slab avalanches at high altitudes. Beware fresh snowdrift accumulations

Moderate danger of slab avalanches at high altitudes. Beware fresh snowdrift accumulations

Small trigger-sensitive snowdrifts lie esp. on N/E/S facing slopes above the treeline. Unfavourable: eintries into gullies and bowls, zones behind protruberances. Avalanches can be triggered by 1 person in places, mostly small-to-medium. Glide-snow avalanches can still release at any time of day in all aspects on very steep wooded or leafy slopes and on smooth rocky slopes. Avoid zones below glide cracks.

Some fresh snow and stormy winds have generated small snowdrift accumulations down to forest clearances. Weak layers occur inside the bonded snow but will deteriorate as temperatures rise. The snowpack base is moist/wet, leading to gliding snow masses.

Some fresh snow overnight in the northern barrier cloud regions (10 cm from DAchstein over northern Niedere Tauern to Mürzsteg Alps possible). Snowfall level: 1000-1200 m. Elsewhere the precipitation will be minor, tomorrow it will slacken off everywhere as much warmer air masses move in (zero-debrees level ascending to 2200-2500 m by evening, even higher in the south). Minor precipitation, later turning to rainfall. Tonight the gale-strength NW winds will shift to a westerly airstream and slowly recede but still reach windspeeds of 80 km/hr in the Northern Alps, even more in early morning.

On Christmas Day, more sunshine everywhere and it will be very mild. At 2000 m: +6 degrees. Winds will still be strong, later slackening off. As it warms up, weak layers will deteriorate. Avalanche danger will diminish. Gliding snow and wet snow will dominate.