Západné Tatry

Beware of wind-wound boards and cushions that are stored on hard ground.

Beware of wind-wound boards and cushions that are stored on hard ground.

In our mountains there is a low avalanche danger above the forest zone, except for Veľká Fatra and the Lúčanská part of Mala Fatra, where there is no avalanche danger. The main avalanche problem is wind-blown snow. Especially the leeward sides of ridges, narrow couloirs and places under rock walls are dangerous. Here there may be wind-blown slabs that are deposited on a hard base with the two layers weakly interconnected. The second avalanche problem is a permanently weak layer. Shady orientations and the northern slopes of our mountains are therefore particularly dangerous. There is a risk of small avalanches which, once released, pose a risk especially in combination with terrain traps (protruding rocks, terrain depressions or rock precipices).

The last snowfall from Thursday to Friday will have little effect on the snow cover in our mountains. Between 5 and 10 cm of new snow is expected, which will be very unevenly distributed due to strong winds. The windward sides and ridge tops are blown into hard ground, sometimes even rocks. On the leeward sides the snow will be deposited in hard slabs and pillows. Loose powder snow will be found where the wind intensity is less. Most of the new snow will fall in the Western Tatras up to 10 cm, but in places it may be much more. On average, there is between 15 and 30 cm of snow in our mountains. The continuous snow cover is mostly above the forest belt.

Tendency

The avalanche situation on our territory will worsen due to strong winds combined with snowfall.