Glockner Group Central

Dangerous - large amounts of new snow and sometimes stormy winds.

During the night, it snows 5 cm to 15 cm with strong winds from the northwest to north. On Friday, the snowfall (about 5 cm) will decrease during the day and there will be breaks. It will clear up in the afternoon. It will remain very windy and cold, with some gale-force northerly winds in the open high areas of the Tauern. At 2000 metres the temperature will be around -11 degrees, at 3000 metres around -16 degrees.

The avalanche danger is decreasing.

Dangerous - large amounts of new snow and sometimes stormy winds.

The avalanche risk is high above the tree line and moderate below. New fallen snow and extensive snowdrift accumulations are very easy to disturb in many places above the tree line in all aspects. Snow slabs can be triggered in layers close to the surface and can become medium to large. Especially on western, northern and eastern slopes, avalanches can also tear through layers of the snowpack close to the ground. In some cases, the wind slab is covered by snow again away from areas adjacent to the ridgeline, crest or summit, making avalanche prone locations difficult to recognise. Naturally triggered avalanches (both slabby and soft) are to be expected in steep terrain.

Wind slabs and new fallen snow (a good half metre) lie on a weak old snowpack. There are weak layers in the upper part of the old snowpack as well as deeper down (faceted crystals on crusts). Close to the ground, the snowpack consists of angular, cup-shaped crystals. Snow slabs break mainly within the fresh wind slab and new snow layers, but sometimes also on one of the uppermost weak layers in the persistent weak layer. Under unfavourable circumstances, however, a weak layer close to the ground can be addressed.