Verwall Mountains West

Snowdrifts easily triggerable in places

Snowdrifts easily triggerable in places

Strong-velocity westerly winds are transporting the most recent snowfall, generating fresh and trigger-sensitive snowdrift accumulations. Avalanches can be triggered even by minimum additional loading and then grow to medium size. Danger zones are located primarily on shady W-N-E facing slopes above 2000m, particularly in ridgeline terrain and in wind-loaded gullies and bowls. Apart from the danger of being buried in snow masses, the risks of being swept along and forced to take a fall require caution. Activities in open terrain demand experience in assessing avalanche dangers and defensive conduct in backcountry.

Strong westerly winds will transport about 20cm of snow which has fallen since Friday. The snowdrifts will be deposited primarily on shady slopes on top of an unfavorable old snowpack surface, they are prone to triggering. In those locations the snowpack is often expansively metamorphosed and, therefore, weak. Snow depths continue to be significantly below-average at all altitudes. Only limited information from outlying terrain is currently available to the Avalanche Warning Services.

Icy cold. An equilibrium of air pressure distribution will generate sunshine from early morning hours in most places, a few clouds on various slopes will shortly disappear. Winds, compared to recent days, will slacken off measurably. Temperature at 2000m: from -15 rising to -11 degrees; at 3000m: from -22 to -16 degrees. Moderate-strength westerly to northwesterly winds will be blowing at high altitudes.

Brittle, delicate snowdrifts will remain trigger sensitive