Hochschwab Mountains

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

The avalanche risk is low. In the northern and eastern exposures, there is still a persistent weak layer problem at altitudes above the tree line. In steep terrain, small slab avalanches can be triggered in a few places by individual winter sports enthusiasts. Avalanche prone locations are mainly at the entrance to on shady slopes and bowls as well as behind terrain edges. In general, the risk of being swept away, falling and injury outweighs the risk of burial. However, be careful in the area of terrain traps.

There is still significantly less snow than average. A thin, partly bound snowpack covers a very variable and mostly hard old snowpack. There is significantly more snow in shady gullies and bowls than on sunny slopes, some of which are partly bare up to 2000 metres. In the northern and eastern exposures, the snowpack is still weakened by layers with faceted crystals and floating snow (persistent weak layer problem!).

During the night to Sunday, medium-high clouds spread across the whole of Styria, but the peaks remained unaffected by them. In contrast, the clouds in the south-east shroud many peaks of the Randgebirge in fog. On Sunday, a low pressure system over Hungary sends dense clouds over the Styrian mountains. While the peaks in western Upper Styria will remain largely clear, Hochschwab, Wechsel and the peaks of the entire Randgebirge are likely to be repeatedly shrouded in fog. Visibility will be correspondingly limited here. Occasionally, a few snowflakes will also fall. The temperature at an altitude of 2000 metres will be around -5 degrees. The temperature at an altitude of 1500 metres will be around -4 degrees. The wind will be light to moderate with gusts of around 20 km/h.

No change in the avalanche risk is expected. On Tuesday, the wind will be temporarily lively, even strong in exposed high areas. Apart from that, the programme will start with sunny leisure weather, with the first extensive cloud fields arriving in the afternoon. In the evening it will become cloudy from the south, with rain and snowfall becoming more frequent during the night into Wednesday and on Wednesday itself, with the snowfall level expected to be around 1300 metres from today's perspective.