Lower Tauern South

Pay heed to dangers of falling

Pay heed to dangers of falling

Avalanche danger above 2000 m is CONSIDERABLE, danger is moderate below that altitude. Fresh snowdrift accumulations on N/E/S facing slopes can be triggered by 1 person, grow to medium size. Also in gullies in other aspects the drifts are trigger-prone. At low and intermediate altitudes, in addition, small wet loose-snow avalanches are expected, either triggering naturally or artificially. Latent danger of small-to-medium glide-snow avalanches persists.

Since Monday evening there has been 10 cm of fresh snow registered, also 20-25 cm in Niedere Tauern and Northern Alps. Stormy winds have transported the snow above the treeline, the newly formed snowdrift accumulations are distributed irregularly over the snowpack surface, lower down atop a melt-freeze crust. Potential weak layer: a soft layer (faceted crystals) beneath a recent crust (rain-ice crust or wind crust or melt-freeze crust) but fractures inside the freshly generated drifts are also possible. The striking rise in temperatures is making the fresh snow at lower altitudes forfeit its firmness.

On Tuesday night, scattered clouds to start with, after midnight heavier cloud cover with snowfall will pass through, temperatures will rise markedly. By morning in the Northern Alps, 3-10 cm of fresh snow expected, the W/NW winds will intensify significantly. On Wednesday, heavy cloud cover, precipitation will soon taper off. In the afternoon, rainfall, snowfall level dropping from 2000 down to nearly 1500 m. Winds will be westerly, strong-to-stormy, reaching 100 km/hr At 2000 m: 2 degrees, at 3000 m: -4 degrees. On Wednesday night, 10-20 cm of fresh snow expected in the Northern Alps and Tauern amid heavy wind impact.

Due to further fresh snowfall and storm-strength winds on Thursday, a marked snowdrift problem.