Mur Mountains, Gurktal Alps

15 to 30 cm of new fallen snow with wind on a weak old snowpack! Tricky situation for winter sports in open terrain!

The new fallen snow was deposited on a poorly built-up old snowpack in mostly moderate winds. Due to the weather conditions, a bound layer (board) formed. On the one hand, fractures occur within the old snowpack, which often consists of a sequence of melt-freeze crusts and angular forms or deep rime. On the other hand, existing weak layers can be disturbed at the transition from new fallen snow to old snowpack. Below around 1600 metres, the snowpack is moist.

15 to 30 cm of new fallen snow with wind on a weak old snowpack! Tricky situation for winter sports in open terrain!

15 to 30 cm of new fallen snow was deposited on a soft snow surface or surface hoar under moderate to strong winds. Medium-sized slab avalanches can be triggered in some places. Naturally triggered avalanches and remote triggering are also possible. Fractures can tear through the poorly built-up persistent weak layer. The avalanche prone locations are barely recognisable and should be assessed defensively. Take particular care in the transition from a little to a lot of snow and in the blown-in entrance areas of gullies and bowls.

The night into Saturday and the first half of the day will be mostly cloudy, but it will remain largely free of precipitation. The weather will improve somewhat during the daytime changes, especially south of the main Alpine ridge, with a few sunny spells and the peaks becoming partly clear. Temperatures will be around -1 degrees at 2000 metres and between 0 and +3 degrees at 1500 metres. Only moderate winds with gusts of up to 40 km/h from south to north-west.

On Friday, there will be a brief intermittent high with some sunny spells. In the afternoon, it will start to get cloudy again from the west. The avalanche danger decreases slightly.