Nock Mountains

Weak layers in persistent weak layers are prone to triggering!

Weak layers in persistent weak layers are prone to triggering!

The avalanche risk is considerable above around 1800 metres and low below that. The situation remains precarious for winter sports. Medium-sized slab avalanches can easily be triggered by individuals in some places, especially from west to north to east. Remote triggering is still possible in isolated cases. If weak layers near the surface are disturbed, there is a high likelihood of avalanches breaking through to deeper layers. The old snowpack is poorly structured across the board: Avalanche prone locations are barely recognisable and require a defensive route choice. In particular, be careful near transitions from a little to a lot of snow and in the entrance areas to steep gullies.

The snowpack is crusted can form and hard in the morning and softens a little on the sunny side during the daytime changes. Bonded snow overlays soft layers on the surface (e.g. surface hoar, faceted crystals) or older, hard packets of drifting snow. In general, areas with little snow alternate with considerable snowdrift accumulations. Breaks occur either in soft layers near the surface or around the crust that forms the transition to the completely angular old snowpack. Below this crust, the old snowpack consists of deep rime and angular forms, which are interspersed with other crusts in areas with more snow. The overall snow depth is well below average.

The night is clear at first, with a few clouds appearing in the morning. On Tuesday morning there will still be some sunshine in the mountains, then the clouds will thicken and visibility will become increasingly limited. At 2000 metres the temperature will be around -3 degrees Celsius, at 3000 metres around -10 degrees Celsius. In the open high areas of the Tauern, the southerly wind will pick up and reach speeds of around 40 km/h in places, otherwise the wind will only be weak to moderately strong.

The persistent weak layer problem remains.