Hochschwab Mountains

Fresh wind slab!

Fresh wind slab!

The avalanche danger above 1400 m is assessed as considerable (level 3). The avalanche prone locations are located in the sparse high forest and can be triggered by individual winter sports enthusiasts as medium-sized avalanches. The most critical areas are in gullies, bowls and behind terrain edges. Spontaneous slab avalanches and loose snow avalanches are possible from very steep slopes. Wet discharges cannot be ruled out at low altitude.

Between 20 and 50 cm of new fallen snow has fallen in the last 24 hours. The snow has been worked or transported by the stormy wind. Massive snowdrift accumulations have formed in places. The fresh windslab snow was deposited above the tree line on a partly still weak old snowpack. Weak layers can be found in the bound layer or transition to the old snow, at higher altitudes in places still in the persistent weak layer (faceted crystals in the area of crusts) or occasionally in layers close to the ground in the form of floating snow. The persistent weak layer is moist right up to the higher altitudes.

In the coming night, it will snow along the northern side of the Alps, sometimes persistently, with the focus gradually shifting to the region between Hochkar and Schneealpe. Tomorrow it will snow throughout the mountains, especially from the eastern Limestone Alps to the Wechsel region. Visibility will be severely restricted by wind, fog and snow. The temperature at an altitude of 1500 metres will be around -7 degrees. Stormy winds with gusts of around 100 km/h from the north. The snowfall level is in the valleys. Amounts of new snow between 20 and 40 cm are expected.

The weather will calm down on Saturday and it will already be very sunny and dry in many places. The last snowfalls in the north-east will soon subside. Clouds will once again predominate on Sunday, but apart from a few snowflakes along the northern side of the Alps, it will remain dry.