Savinja Alps and Carinthia

New fallen snow will hide old traps and the danger of avalanches is increasing.

New fallen snow will hide old traps and the danger of avalanches is increasing.

Even a small additional load can trigger a small avalanche near ridges and other typical leeward areas with blowing snow. Chain avalanche triggering is also possible, where the triggering of a small clast of freshly blown snow causes the collapse of old weak layers in the snowpack! In particular, in some places, the additional load (blowing snow) will naturally trigger cluster avalanches.

Snow is scarce and local conditions are quite variable. A crust has formed on the surface in some places, which in many places also bears the weight of sand. In the osoles, the snowpack is mostly dry, compacted and hard on the surface, and completely cut at depth. Ridges and peaks are in many places blown down to a crusted or icy base. Particularly near the ridges, areas of blown snow have formed, under which the snowpack is thinned.

On such a surface above about 1000 m it has been snowing lightly since Friday evening with an increasing SW wind. New fallen snow will hide the old snow cover and will have little connection with it. New snowdrift accumulations are forming, which naturally put additional stress on the old snow cover, which has deep, persistent weak layers.

On Sunday night, there will be occasional snow above 1200 m. Sunday will be cloudy and foggy, with snow starting again in the morning. Snow will mainly fall above 1200 m, with the snowfall level decreasing towards the middle of the day and snow below 800 m in the afternoon. By the evening, 10-20 cm of New fallen snow will have fallen. Winds will blow from the SW. It will be around 0 °C at 1500 m and -2 °C at 2000 m, with a few degrees lower in the afternoon.

Rainfall will continue into the night on Monday, easing on Monday morning. Up to 20 cm of snow may still fall. Clouds will break, clearing in the middle of the day. Winds will weaken. Tuesday will be mostly sunny. The danger of avalanches will remain significant.