Hochschwab Mountains

Moderate avalanche danger above the tree line. Even a single person can trigger a slab avalanche!

Moderate avalanche danger above the tree line. Even a single person can trigger a slab avalanche!

The avalanche danger is moderate above the tree line (level 2) and low below. Fresh snowdrift accumulations, mainly in the north, east and south sectors, can be triggered as medium slab avalanches in some places behind ridgelines, terrain edges and in gullies and bowls even with a small additional load.

Up to 30 cm of new fallen snow has fallen since Thursday, partly interspersed with graupel. The snow has been transported to the eastern sectors by brisk westerly to north-westerly winds and is forming bonded snow there. In regions and terrain with little wind, the new fallen snow remains soft and powdery. The fresh wind slab often lies on an unstable layer of faceted crystals or surface hoar. In the foundation of the snow cover, kinetic metamorphism (floating snow) weakens the stability.

It will snow on the northern edge of the Alps and in the Niedere Tauern in the night to Sunday with strong north-westerly winds and icy temperatures. However, only a few centimetres of fresh snow are expected. During the day, it will be quite sunny on the southern side of the Alps from the start, but low-lying residual clouds will hang over the northern and eastern side of the Alps until midday, causing visibility problems. With a stormy north-westerly wind, it will be very cold at high altitudes. At 2000 metres, the temperature will be between -16 and -13 degrees.

Monday will be significantly warmer during the course of the day, with the possibility of a little precipitation towards the evening. The avalanche risk will hardly change.