Hochschwab Mountains

Instable snowdrifts on shady slopes, isolated wet loose-snow and glide-snow releases

Instable snowdrifts on shady slopes, isolated wet loose-snow and glide-snow releases

Avalanche danger above the treeline is moderate. Danger of slab avalanches is slowly decreasing. The drifts generated on Friday have settled on sunny slopes, the snow is becoming soft through warmth and solar radiation. On shady slopes the settling will take longer. Danger zones increase with ascending altitude, occur behind discontinuities and at entries into gullies and bowls. Snowdrift accumulations can in isolated cases trigger small-to-medium slab avalanches even by 1 person. During the course of the day on steep sunny slopes, small-to-medium loose-snow avalanches cannot be excluded. In shady extremely steep terrain and gullies at high altitudes, isolated large-sized avalanches can be triggered (persistent weak layer). Windblown exposed surfaces are often hard and icy, acute danger of falling.

The precipitation from Friday was distributed highly irregularly. Up to 25 cm of fresh snow in Koralpe, 10 cm on Turrach and in the Hochschwab region, less in Ausseerland. The NW winds didn’t slacken off until Saturday evening. Snowdrifts occur esp. behind discontinuities on east-facing slopes, where faceted crystals and surface hoar on the encrusted surfaces are potential weak layers. The snowpack base is mostly compact, without marked weak layers; sunny slopes are moist on the surface. Only on steep shady slopes at high altitudes are facted crystals weakening the snowpack fundament.

On Sunday, fine wintery weather will predominate with lots of sunshine. Follow and cold night of clear skies, the early part of the day will. be cloudless with outstanding visibility. Some On Monday, extensive cloudbanks along the Northern Alps and Niedere Tauern, but it will remain dry. In the south, sunshine in the morning, then clouds will move in. Winds initially brisk from the west. Temperatures rising. At 2000 m to +6 degrees. cloudbanks will pass through in the afternoon. Milder. At 2000 m rising to 0 degrees, at 1500 m rising to +2 degrees. Light winds will be westerly.

Snowdrift danger will recede, increasingly frequent wet-snow avalanches