Allgäu Alps West

Snowpack still prone to triggering at high altitudes

Nocturnal hours: light snow showers will swifting come to an end, skies clear up, often cold: -8 to -3 degrees, colder in high valleys. Tuesday: as a result of a high-pressure front, mostly sunny, with possible residual fog soon dispersing. Cirrus clouds later on, harmless. Low temperatures: -8 to -3 degrees, cold in high valleys. Highest: -1 to +3 degree.

High-pressure front conditions in the next few days, generally sunny, wintery temperatures. Avalanche danger will decrease incrementally.

Snowpack still prone to triggering at high altitudes

Considerable avalanche danger prevails at high altitudes. Avalanche prone locations occur in wind-loaded steep terrain, behind abrupt discontinuities in the terrain, and in gullies and bowls, Small to medium, in isolated cases also large-sized slab avalanches can be triggered even by minimum additional loading, i.e. the weight of one sole skier. Whumpf noises and glide-cracks in the snowpack are signals of imminent danger. Activities in backcountry terrain demand experience in assessing dangers on-site. In addition, on steep, seldom-tracked shady slopes at high altitudes, more deeply embedded layers inside the snowpack can be triggered by large additional loading.

Fresh snow and drifts were able to settle at low and intermediate altitudes, and consolidate. With ascending altitude this process requires longer. Fresh snow and snowdrifts often lie deposited atop unfavourable old snowpack surfaces consisting of surface hoar, melt-freeze encrusted or softened layers. Bonding of fresh snow and drifts to these layers and also inside the snowpack itself is frequently poor. At high altitudes on steep shady slopes there are still older unfavourable intermediate layers inside the snowpack which are not visible to the naked eye.