Saint-Cergue

Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered in some regions

Considerable avalanche danger will be encountered in some regions

The wind slabs of the last few days represent the main danger. They are to be evaluated with care and prudence especially in very steep terrain. Backcountry touring and snowshoe hiking call for careful route selection. Apart from the danger of being buried, restraint should be exercised as well in view of the danger of avalanches sweeping people along and giving rise to falls. Gliding avalanches and moist snow slides are possible.

The layers of fresh snow and freshly generated snowdrifts from the beginning of this week are settling and stabilizing to an increasing degree. Particularly on shady slopes, these layers can still be triggered in some places. As a consequence of strong-velocity southwesterly winds, furthermore, fresh snowdrift accumulations are being generated at high altitudes. From the southern Valais over the northern Ticino as far as Grisons, weak layers exist inside the old snowpack. Avalanches can fracture down to more deeply embedded layers in the snowpack in those regions and subsequently grow to large size. As a result of solar radiation and daytime warming, the snowpack surface on steep sunny slopes has become moist and during Wednesday night it will form a melt-freeze crust which is not capable of bearing loads. Particularly in the western and the northern regions, gliding avalanches continue to be possible.

On Tuesday night in the eastern regions a small amount of fresh snow was registered. The snowfall level lay at 1000 m. During the daytime on Wednesday it was predominantly sunny in the western and the southern regions, in the eastern regions it turned increasingly sunny after the residual clouds dispersed during the course of the morning. Fresh snow: Eastern sector of the northern flank of the Alps, northern Grisons, Lower Engadine: as much as 5 cm. Temperature: Temperatures rose, at midday at 2000 m, -2 °C in the northern regions and 2 °C in the southern regions. Wind: - Winds at high altitudes on Tuesday night were blowing at moderate to strong velocity, at light to moderate strength in western regions, from northerly to northwesterly directions; - during the daytime on Wednesday, winds were blowing at light to moderate strength, subsequently shifting to easterly, then to southwesterly during the afternoon. In spite of some cloudbanks it will be quite sunny. During the afternoon, heavy cloud cover will move in from the west. Fresh snow: - Temperature: Temperatures will drop from the west, at midday at 2000 m, between -2 °C in the western regions and 0 °C in the eastern regions. Wind: - Wind in the northern regions will be blowing at moderate to strong velocity from southwesterly directions at high altitudes; in the upper Alpine valleys foehn wind will temporarily prevail; - in the southern regions, light to moderate winds will be blowing from southwesterly directions.

Friday: In the northern regions, skies will frequently be overcast accompanied by shower-like snowfall during the nocturnal hours in particular. The snowfall level is expected to descend down to low lying areas. In the Valais it will be sunny during the morning hours, on the southern flank of the Alps predominantly so. Avalanche danger levels are not expected to change significantly. Saturday: On Friday night in the northern regions a small amount of additional snowfall is anticipated down to low lying areas. During the daytime on Saturday in the western and the southern regions it will be mostly sunny, in the eastern regions it will become increasingly sunny. The northeasterly winds will be blowing at moderate to strong velocity. The avalanche danger levels could increase somewhat from region to region.