Ybbstaler Alpen

Snowdrift accumulations are prone to triggering!

Snowdrift accumulations are prone to triggering!

The avalanche risk is moderate above the tree line. Fresh drift snow areas can be triggered as small to medium-sized slab avalanches by low additional loads. The avalanche prone locations are located in particular in the steep terrain adjacent to the ridgeline, crest or summit in the north-west, east to south aspects as well as in gullies and bowls.

Since Thursday, up to 20 cm of new fallen snow has fallen in places, which was deposited as wind slab on a soft layer of snow interspersed with graupel with strong winds from the west. Up to around 1400 metres, some rain on Friday partially moistened the snow cover, snowpack there forming a melt-freeze crust as it cooled down again. At higher altitudes, the warming caused the layer to bind in places. Weak layers for slab avalanches form soft snow layers (new fallen snow, faceted crystals) in the transition to the crusted old snowpack, the foundation of which is additionally weakened in places by kinetic metamorphism. The snow depth varies greatly. Hardness, blown and drifting snow-laden areas alternate.

Hardly any more snow will fall during the night to Saturday. Mostly dense clouds during the day. Snowfall will return at times, especially in the afternoon and evening. The wind will blow moderately to briskly from the west at high altitudes. It will cool down considerably at all altitudes. The temperature at 2000 metres will be between -9 and -5 degrees, at 1500 metres between -7 and -3 degrees. Strong to gale-force winds with gusts of around 100 km/h from the north-west.

As the snowfall intensifies with strong north-westerly winds, the avalanche risk slowly increases.