Werdenfels Alps

Lots of fresh snow, unfavorable snowpack layering

Lots of fresh snow, unfavorable snowpack layering

Avalanche danger above 1600m is considerable, below that altitude danger is moderate. Snowdrift accumulations are the main problem Slab avalanches can be triggered even. by the weight of one sole person. Many danger zones occur in steep ridgeline terrain in all aspects and in wind-loaded gullies and bowls, also to some extent in forest lanes and clearances. At high altitudes avalanches can grow to large size. In addiotion, the fresh snow of recent days can trigger naturally on sunny steep rocky slopes as a loose-snow avalanche. Isolated glide-snow avalanches cannot be ruled out.

Rising easterly winds will consolidate the loose fresh fallen snow and make it prone to triggering. Inside the snow masses of recent days there are weak layers of graupel and expansively metamorphosed crystals embedded which were generated during the interims in precipItation. In addition, in the uppermost metre of the snowpack beneath a marked melt-freeze crust there is a trigger-sensitive weak layer, particularly evident at intermediate altitudes. At low altitudes the snowpack is moist down to the ground, but gliding movements over grassy, smooth slopes are still the exception.

Avalanche danger levels will diminish in the stable weather and mild temperatures towards the end of the week.