Lower Tauern North

Generally favourable, caution urged in shallow-snow north-facing high alpine terrain

Generally favourable, caution urged in shallow-snow north-facing high alpine terrain

Above 2200 m avalanche danger is moderate, below that altitude danger is generally low. Main problem: avalanche prone intermediate layers in the old snow near the ground. Isolated slab avalanches can trigger by large additional loading on shady high-altitude slopes, esp. where the snow is shallow (for example at entries to gullies and bowls). Triggered avalanches can grow to medium size. At intermediate altitudes, small glide-snow avalanches can still trigger naturally on smooth, steep grassy slopes. Mostly small sized.

The snowpack is relatively favourably layers, with only a few small weak layers. Up to 2200 m there is a superficial melt-freeze crust. Inside the snowpack the layers are well bonded. Potential weak layer of faceted crystals and soft old snow is evident in some high-altitude terrain. Tendency towards fracture propagation is moderate. Gliding movements have diminished.

On Sunday, brilliant sunshine above the persistent valley fog. Northerly winds at 20-40 km/hr at high altitude. At 2000 m: 0 degrees, at 3000 m: up to -4 degrees. On Monday temperatures will plummet, and northerly winds will be strong. The summits will disappear in fog, occasional snowfall, but minor amounts. At 2000 m: maximum -11 to -8 degrees, at 3000 m: maximum -11 degrees.

Little change, despite a few centimetres of fresh snow and wind.