Weisseck, Muhr Valley

Southerly foehn wind still generating fresh snowdrifts

Southerly foehn wind still generating fresh snowdrifts

Avalanche danger above 2400 m is CONSIDERABLE, below that altitude danger is LOW. Due to persistent southerly winds, freshly generated snowdrift accumulations are still being formed. Slabs can trigger by minimum additional loading and grow to large size. Most critical: transitions from shallow to deep snow. The snowdrift accumulations are easily recognized and should be avoided. In steep terrain, isolated glide-snow avalanches are possible.

The fresh snow from Friday has already settled and is well bonded with the old snowpack. Southerly foehn winds have had great impact. Wind-exposed terrain is windblown down to the old snowpack surface, deep snowdrifts lie adjacent, the surface is extremely irregular. On sunny slopes the snow is sticky or has a melt-freeze crust. In wind-protected terrain and on shady slopes there is still powder. Huge cornices tower. Weak layer for a slab: mostly the loose snow beneath the drifts; more deeply embedded layers are unlikely to trigger. Surface hoar has, in places, been blanketed over.

Along the Hohe Tauern and in the Nockberge, heavy clouds are still moving in from the south, reducing visibility. Repeated rainfall possible, snowfall level at 1500-1700 m, about 10 cm of fresh snow is expected at high altitudes. The southerly winds are still above transport strength, brisk in the Tauern (gusts of 60 km/hr). At 2000 m: rising from -3 to 0 degrees; at 3000 m: -5 degrees.

Avalanche danger levels expected to slowly relax