Glockner Group Pasterze

Beware wet-snow and snowdrifts in high-alpine terrain

Beware wet-snow and snowdrifts in high-alpine terrain

Wet-snow avalanches can in isolated cases be triggered by one winter sports enthusiast and grow to medium size. These avalanche prone locations are located particularly on W/N/E-facing slopes below 2800m. Rainfall is anticipated in the afternoon, thereby the likelihood of triggerings will increase. Fresh snowdrift accumulations can be triggered by one sole skier on very steep shady slopes above 2800m. Such danger zones occur esp. in ridgeline terrain, in gullies and in bowls.

Weather conditions below 2800m have led to the snowpack becoming thoroughly wet, forfeiting firmness of the snowpack. Many wet-snow avalanches have already released, many starting zones have completely discharged, the snowpack is thoroughly wet. Due to often strong-velocity southerly winds, snowdrift accumulations have been generated. Weather will gradually stabilize these drifts. Nocturnal outgoing longwave radiation is severely reduced, the snowpack hardly freezes, then soften rapidly in the morning hours. On steep sunny slopes below 1900m there is hardly any snow on the ground.

On Wednesday, instable weather conditions. Following sunny phases during the morning, convective cloud build-up will rapidly generate rain showers, often thunderstorms, during the afternoon. Southerly winds will be mostly light. At 1000m: 16 degrees; at 2000m: +5 degrees; at 3000m: 0 degrees. Source: GeoSphere Austria

No significant change expected