Glockner Group Pasterze

Circumvent fresh snowdrifts. Caution: persistent weak layer.

Circumvent fresh snowdrifts. Caution: persistent weak layer.

Snowdrift accumulations which are prone to triggering will be generated particularly in gullies, bowls and behind protruberances in the landscape due to fresh snow and storm-velocity winds. Snowdrifts can be triggered by one single skier. Avalanches can in isolated cases trigger naturally at the foot of rock cliffs and grow to medium size. They can also trigger in the weak layers in isolated cases and grow to medium size. Particularly unfavorable are shady slopes. Size and frequency of danger zones will tend to increase with ascending altitude.

Up to 10 cm of fresh snow is expected regionally, locally more. The often storm-strength winds will transport the fresh and also the old snow. The varied snowdrift accumulations are often poorly bonded with each other and with the old snowpack surface, they lie particularly on NW/N/SE facing slopes above 2400m atop a weak old snowpack. The fresh drifts also lie on top of weak layers. The snowpack is highly diverse even over small areas. There is too little snow on the ground for this juncture of the season.

On Friday morning, the cold front clouds will swiftly reced to the southeast. Directly on the Main Tauern Ridge clouds and fogbanks can reduce visibility, a bit of snowfall is possible. In late afternoon, widespread cloudbanks from the west will move in. At 2000m at midday: -9 degrees; at 3000m: -18 degrees. The initially stormy NW wind, easing off in the afternoon, will intensify the subjective feeling of cold even more. Source: GeoSphere Austria

Circumvent fresh snowdrifts