Savinja Alps and Carinthia

The current snowpack pattern is uncommon and requires special attention and caution!

New fallen snow in the high alpine regions, weak layers in the old snow cover.

Thursday night and Friday will see more snow in the mountains, with the snow line decreasing. On Friday, snow will be heavier in the east of the Alps. Spontaneous avalanches will continue to occur in the high alpine regions. We advise against visiting the high alpine regions in the current conditions! Moderate to strong winds from the north will build up larger snowdrift accumulations on the leeward sides. More dangerous are areas of blowing snow, where a major Avalanche may be triggered. New fallen snow will put additional load on the old snow cover. This may exceed the load-bearing capacity of the deeper Weak layers and trigger a deep and large avalanche. Such weak layers are abundant, especially in the axis above the forest, but are not excluded elsewhere. In parts of the mid-mountains where it has rained, the rain has wetted the snowpack. Some new fallen snow will fall on top of this blanket as the weather cools.

The old snow cover is made up of layers of bonded snow that are already somewhat compacted and mostly well connected. Deep below the surface, the old snow cover contains several weak layers of shredded and coarse grains. This base will receive 50-80 cm of New fallen snow during this snowfall in the High alpine regions. The snow line was mostly between 1200 m and 1500 m on Thursday, and will be decreasing on Friday.

Initially still cloudy and foggy with snow showers, which will taper off in the afternoon. Clouds will break up in the afternoon. There will be moderate to strong northerly winds. It will be colder. Temperatures will be around -5 °C at 1500 m and -9 °C at 2500 m.

Snow conditions will remain challenging in the coming days.