Saas Fee

Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area

Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered over a wide area

As a consequence of new snow and a storm force northwesterly wind, deep wind slabs formed on Monday. They are lying on top of a weakly bonded old snowpack. Avalanches can in some places be released by people and reach large size. Whumpfing sounds and the formation of shooting cracks when stepping on the snowpack can indicate the danger. Backcountry touring and other off-piste activities call for experience in the assessment of avalanche danger and caution.

Monday’s winter storm brought precipitation over a wide area and transported large quantities of fresh and old snow. In some cases the snow has been transported almost entirely from ridges and mountain crests. In locations situated some distance from ridgelines, large snow drift accumulations have formed in some regions. The fresh snow and snow drift accumulations are becoming more stable as a consequence of exposure to solar radiation, but only slowly on shady slopes. Distinct weak layers exist deeper in the snowpack in particular on west, north and east facing slopes. On the northern flank of the Alps these are mostly covered by thick layers of snow and therefore less prone to triggering. From southern Valais through northern Ticino to Grisons, in many places all the old snow near the ground is faceted. In these regions several large avalanches, and in isolated cases very large avalanches, have been triggered by people in recent days. Further releases of this kind remain possible.

In the morning cloud still lingered in the east, but it was sunny elsewhere. Fresh snow: - Temperature: At midday at 2000 m: between +4 °C in the southwest and -2 °C in the northeast Wind: - Generally light to moderate in the north, but moderate to strong in the central and eastern parts of the main Alpine ridge, from northerly directions - In the south, moderate to strong during the night, moderate during the day, from the north After a clear night, it will be sunny and very mild during the day. The zero degree level will be approximately 3500 m. Fresh snow: - Temperature: At midday at 2000 m: about +7 °C Wind: Light to moderate from westerly directions

Thursday: Thursday will be mostly sunny at first. In the course of the afternoon, cloudbanks will build up increasingly on the north side of the Alps from the northwest. It will become cooler; in the middle of the day the zero degree level will be approximately 2200 m. The wind will be moderate to strong from westerly directions. The danger of dry avalanches will decrease slowly. The danger of wet snow avalanches will increase a little during the day. Friday: During the night, precipitation will commence in the north. During the day in the north there will be varying to large amounts of cloud and a little snow will fall above approximately 1000 m by the middle of the day. The south will remain dry and it will become partly sunny. The wind will be light to moderate from northerly directions. The avalanche danger will not change significantly, but in the regions exposed to heavier precipitation on the northern flank of the Alps it may increase a little.