Wölz Tauern South

Fresh wind slab forms snow slab on weak old snowpack! Tricky situation for winter sports in open terrain!

Fresh wind slab forms snow slab on weak old snowpack! Tricky situation for winter sports in open terrain!

With new fallen snow and strong winds, fresh drift snow packs are deposited on a soft snow surface or surface hoar, especially in western, northern and eastern aspects. Medium-sized slab avalanches can be triggered in some places. Fractures in the fresh wind slab can tear through into the poorly built-up persistent weak layer. In northern and eastern aspects, remote triggering is also possible in the persistent weak layer. The avalanche prone locations in the persistent weak layer are barely recognisable and should be assessed defensively. Caution should be exercised in particular in the transition from a little to a lot of snow and in the blown-in entrance areas of gullies and bowls.

The snowpack is highly variable and areas with little snow alternate with considerable snowdrift accumulations. Due to 10 to 20 cm of new fallen snow and moderate to strong winds, fresh drift snow packs have formed, some of which have been deposited on surface hoar or a soft snow surface. Fractures usually occur near the crust, which forms the transition to the mostly angular old snowpack. Under this crust, the old snowpack consists of deep rime and angular forms, which are interspersed with further crusts in areas with more snow.

It will rain and snow at times, especially in the first half of the night. The snowfall level is between low altitudes and 1000 metres. A few centimetres of new fallen snow are still possible in the Turrach area. Tomorrow, Thursday, will be mostly cloudy, with clouds and fog dominating and visibility usually very limited. The temperature at an altitude of 2000 metres will be around -1 degrees. The temperature at an altitude of 1500 metres will be around 2 degrees. Moderate to brisk winds with gusts around 40 km/h from the south. The wind will weaken in the afternoon.

On Friday, there will be a brief intermittent high with some sunny spells. In the afternoon, it will start to get cloudy again from the west. No change in the avalanche danger is expected.