Pongau Grass Mountains

Weak old snowpack with low snow cover

The night will often be starry and Monday will bring clear sunshine on the mountains. In exposed areas there will be a foehn wind from the south with gusts of around 40 km/h, and around 60 km/h on the Hochkönig/Steinerne Meer. At 2000 metres the temperature will be + degrees, at 3000 metres around -5 degrees.

It will remain foehn, the situation will not change significantly on Tuesday.

Weak old snowpack with low snow cover

The avalanche danger is moderate above 2000 metres and low below. Small to medium slab avalanches can be triggered in very steep terrain by even a small additional load. Most avalanche prone locations are located on north-west, north to south-east facing slopes, behind terrain edges and in gullies and bowls. The danger areas in steep terrain are often located next to the blown-off parts of the terrain and should be consistently avoided. Cracks and whumpfing collapsing sounds when walking on the snow cover, snowpack indicate danger.

Under the influence of mild air and sunlight, the snow cover, snowpack has settled and become cardboardy up to around 2000 metres. In the morning, it has at least a thin melt-freeze crust, and up to around 1900 metres it also has a crust of rain ice. At high altitudes, older wind slab snow is still prone to triggering in places, and fresh wind slab snow is also formed on a small scale during the day. The transition to the old snowpack (faceted crystals on/under the crust) usually serves as a weak layer. It consists of layers of faceted crystals, deep rime and melt-freeze crusts. Surface-triggered avalanches can tear through to the ground. The total snow depth is still well below average. Ridges and ridges are often completely blown off.