Wölz Tauern South

Persistent weak layer problem! Be especially careful in gullies and bowls in the northern and eastern sectors!

Persistent weak layer problem! Be especially careful in gullies and bowls in the northern and eastern sectors!

The avalanche risk is assessed as moderate above 1800 metres and low below that. The snow layering is still very weak, especially in the northern and eastern sectors. Here, avalanches can be triggered by even small additional loads and can reach medium size when breaking through the weak old snowpack. Above this, there are sometimes thin pillows of wind drifted snow from the last snowfall. The danger areas are mainly located in the transition from a little to a lot of snow as well as behind terrain edges and in the entrance area of gullies and bowls. The danger spots are often difficult to recognise.

On a very varied old snow surface, there are localised thin pillows of wind drifted snow that are prone to triggering. These are partly covered by soft new fallen snow. In the northern and eastern exposures, the snowpack is still weakened with faceted crystals and floating snow (persistent weak layer problem!). The overall snow depth is well below average.

In western Upper Styria, the sky was starry for a long time on Saturday night, with thick clouds only appearing again from the west in the early hours of the morning. Over the rest of the country there will be dense clouds throughout, with fog and high fog spreading again in places. On Saturday, the high fog will reach up to around 1300 metres in the peripheral mountain ranges, but dense layered clouds will also persist above that. The day will be mainly sunny in western Upper Styria, where it will even be cloudless for long stretches. The temperature at an altitude of 2000 metres will be between -4 and -1 degrees. The temperature at an altitude of 1500 metres will be around -3 degrees. The wind will be light with gusts of around 20 km/h.

No change in the avalanche risk is expected. The high pressure weather will remain in place for the next few days. From today's perspective, the next disturbance will reach us during Tuesday with the potential for some new fallen snow on Wednesday.