Vysoké Tatry - západ

Watch out for wind-beaten boards on the leeward slopes of the highest elevations.

Watch out for wind-beaten boards on the leeward slopes of the highest elevations.

The weather during Thursday will continue to be influenced by cool moist air flowing from the northwest along the back side of the pressure low. This will bring cloudy, overcast weather with snow showers, which will be of a snowy nature from the mid-latitudes onwards. In the High Tatras there is a moderate avalanche danger above 2100 m above sea level. Due to strong winds and new snowfalls, the main avalanche problem is wind-blown snow. Especially the leeward sides of the highest ridges, narrow leeward couloirs on the S, SE and E orientations are dangerous. In these places it is possible to find locally wind-blown slabs of different hardness. They can be loosened especially on steep slopes under high additional loads. Spontaneous avalanches are not expected.

The weather of the last few days (cooling down after an exceptionally warm period) has caused the old snow cover to freeze. The surface of the snow cover is hard to icy in many places. Strong winds combined with snowfall have caused very uneven snow distribution in the mountains. The windward sides of the mountains are hard and icy, with slabs of wind-blown snow on the leeward sides of the highest altitudes (SE, SW, SE and E). Most snow is found in northeast to east orientations. Continuous snow cover is found above 1600 m above sea level.