Hochschwab Mountains

Caution: snowdrift accumulations at high altitude. Rainfall will weaken the snowpack at low-to-medium altitudes

Caution: snowdrift accumulations at high altitude. Rainfall will weaken the snowpack at low-to-medium altitudes

Avalanche danger above the treeline is moderate, below that altitude danger is low. Fresh snowdrift accumulations are being gnerated near ridgelines, esp. in extended eastern aspects, and can be triggered even by minimum additional loading. Avalanches can reach medium size. At entries into steep gullies and bowls at high altitudes, caution against falls. Wet-snow problem will recede as temperatures drop. If rainfall persists, small naturally triggered wet-snow avalanches are possible on steep slopes which have not yet discharged.

Due to persistent warmth the snowpack as been moistened up to high altitudes. Also on Sunday the wetness will increase amid diffuse solar radiation and minor rainfall in the late afternoon, before temperatures subsequently drop at high altitudes. On sunny slopes the snowpack is thoroughly wet up to high altitudes, on west-facing and east-facing slopes the wetness proceeds swiftly and the snowpack is losing its stability. On shady slopes the snowpack below the treeline has few reserves of cold and is moist on the surface. Above the treeline there are more reserves of cold. In isolated cases on shady high altitude slopes there are weak layers inside the snowpack which can be activated by subsequent wetness. At low altitudes there is only a fragmented snowpack and this is losing stability increasingly through wetness.

On Sunday night precipitation will set in. Snowfall level will descend in the Upper Styrian massifs down to 1400m by early morning on Monday, in the southern massifs down to 1600-1700m. Monday will. begin with heavily overcast skies, a bit of snowfall is possible, reduced visibility, the summits often shrouded in fog. From Dachstein to Eisenerzer Alps about 5-15 cm of fresh snow is expected, more from place to place. Apart from the northern barrier cloud regions, very little precipitation is anticipated. Dry weather during the day, the clouds dispersing increasingly. Brisk N/NW winds. At 2000 m in northern regions: 0 degrees. On Tuesday, high-pressure front conditions, lots of sunshine. Only in the NE from Hochschwab to Wechsel will there be cloud cover. Light westerly winds. At 2000 m: 5 degrees in the western regions and 2 degees in the SE regions.

As temperatures rise, wet-snow problems increase. No significant change is expected.