Hochschwab Mountains

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

The avalanche risk is low. In the northern and eastern exposures, there is still a persistent weak layer problem at altitudes above the tree line. In steep terrain, avalanches can be triggered in a few places. Fresh wind slab snow is deposited in the Hochschwab area and can also be triggered as a snow slab. However, even if the old snowpack is torn through, the avalanches usually remain small.

Some new fallen snow covers surface hoar or angular shapes on the north side. The foundation is still weak.

In the night to Sunday it will be cloudy and it will start to snow in the northern Alps. The wind picks up during the night and the snow showers spread to the Niedere Tauern. There will be hardly any snow further south. On Sunday, dense clouds will build up from the north until midday on the northern side of the Alps. There will be light snowfall with limited visibility, especially in the morning. The weather will improve in the afternoon. On the southern side of the Alps, the northerly foehn will ensure sunny conditions from midday at the latest. There will be strong northerly winds, even gale force in exposed areas. This will ease in the afternoon. It has cooled down considerably: between -7 and -11 degrees are expected at an altitude of 2000 metres by midday. In the Hochschwab area, amounts of new snow of up to 10 cm are expected.

Strong to stormy westerly winds will blow across the northern side of the Alps on Monday night as a warm front passes through. A few centimetres of new fallen snow may fall in the northern Limestone Alps. Monday will be mostly free of precipitation during the day and the clouds will soften on the southern side of the Alps. In the evening and during the night on Tuesday, a north-westerly weather pattern will set in, resulting in renewed snowfall in the northern foothills. No significant change in the avalanche risk is expected.