Lower Tauern Central

Fresh, prone to triggering wind slab snow on a weak old snowpack

Fresh, prone to triggering wind slab snow on a weak old snowpack

The avalanche risk is moderate above the tree line and low below. Heat input leads to a better formed slab. Medium-sized slab avalanches can be triggered by individuals in some places, especially from west to north to east, but also in a few places in the southern sector. 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 barely recognisable and require a defensive choice of route. Take particular care near transitions from a little to a lot of snow and in the blown-in entrance areas to steep gullies.

A few centimetres of mostly transported new fallen snow lies on the wind-treated snow surface. Some of the new snow and wind slabs have been deposited on surface hoar. In general, areas with little snow alternate with considerable snowdrift accumulations, some of which are as hard as a board and some of which are already being transformed. Breaks usually occur close to 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.

Friday will be mostly cloudy, with limited visibility at higher altitudes at times. In the morning, clearing is possible towards the east. In the afternoon, snowfall will move in from the west and rain will fall below around 1500 metres. However, the amounts will be small overall, with a maximum of 5 to 10 cm of new fallen snow. The wind will be weak to moderate from the west at all altitudes. Temperatures at 2000 m will be around -2 degrees, at 3000 m around -8 degrees.

The wind slab problem is slowly improving, but the persistent weak layer problem remains.