Nock Mountains

Fresh wind slab forms snow slab on weak old snowpack

Fresh wind slab forms snow slab on weak old snowpack

The avalanche risk is moderate above the tree line and low below. A soft snow surface and surface hoar are overlaid by strong southerly foehn with fresh wind slabs. Medium-sized slab avalanches can be triggered by individuals in some places, especially from north to east, but also in a few places in the west and south sectors. Fractures in the fresh wind slab can tear through the persistent weak layer and tend to propagate. Avalanche prone locations in the persistent weak layer are hardly recognisable and should be assessed defensively. Take particular care near transitions from a little to a lot of snow and in the blown-in entrance areas to steep gullies.

The snowpack is highly variable and areas with little snow alternate with considerable snowdrift accumulations. In general, there are a few centimetres of fresh wind slab snow on top of older, often hardness wind slabs, which are in the initial stages of kinetic metamorphism. Breaks usually occur near the crust, which forms the transition to the completely angular old snowpack. Under this crust, the old snowpack consists of deep rime and angular forms, which are interspersed with further crusts in areas with more snow. The overall snow depth is well below average.

It will snow a little in Lungau in the first half of the night, but it will remain dry after midnight. On Wednesday, more high cloud fields will soon appear and the light will become increasingly diffuse. In the late morning it will start to snow lightly in the Nockberge, with very brisk southerly winds (peaks 60 to 70 km/h) at high altitudes. By the afternoon, 5 to 10 cm of new fallen snow is expected in the Nockberge and the snowfall will intensify towards the evening. At 2000 metres from the south around -3 to degrees.

The avalanche risk increases slightly with new fallen snow and wind.