Villach Alps

Very isolated danger zones in gullies and bowls

Very isolated danger zones in gullies and bowls

Weak layers inside the old snow can be triggered in isolated cases, esp. on shady wind-protected slopes at high-altitudes. Caution urged in transitions into gullies and bowls. Danger zones occur seldom. Apart from the danger of being buried in snow masses, the risks of being swept along and forced to take a fall require adequate consideration. On very steep sunny slopes, daytime warmth and solar radiation makes mostly small wet loose-snow avalanches possible in isolated cases.

Shady slopes: in the middle part of the snowpack there are faceted, expansively metamorphosed weak layers, esp. on NW/N/NE facing slopes. Very steep sunny slopes: upper part of the snowpack is well consolidated, a melt-freeze crust on the surface. Sunshine and higher temperatures during the daytime moisten the snowpack. Highly varied snow depths, depending on wind impact. There is too little snow on the ground for this juncture of the season.

On Saturday, sunshine by and large until midday. On the Main Tauern Ridge, widespread cloudbanks in late morning, as of midday the cloudiness will increase throughout upper Carinthia. Summits will remain in the clear. The W/SW winds will intensify, reach windspeeds of 50 km/hr at high altitudes. At 1000m, +7 degrees; at 2000m: +2 degrees. Source: Geosphere Austria