Západné Tatry

Watch out for wind-blown pillows of new snow and wet occasional basement avalanches.

Watch out for wind-blown pillows of new snow and wet occasional basement avalanches.

Moderate avalanche danger in the High, Western and Low Tatras. The main avalanche problem is wet snow below 1800 m above sea level. Due to the warming of the weather, which will bring rain, all orientations will be dangerous. Avalanches are possible on steep slopes with only a small additional load. Small and medium avalanches are threatened. Occasionally, large foundation avalanches may also occur, which may affect valley and access roads. Above 1800 m a.s.l. there is locally more new snow that is deposited on hard crust. Especially dangerous are narrow couloirs and places under rock walls, especially of northern and eastern orientations.

The snow cover is very varied. At the highest altitudes (above 2000 m above sea level) there is a very hard to icy layer. During the last snowfall period, between 5 and 15 cm of new snow fell, but locally there may be much more. This is being blown to the leeward sides of ridges and into narrow troughs by very strong, predominantly southerly winds. There is also a critical layer of crusts in the snow profile. At altitudes below 1800 m above sea level, heavy rain is expected, which will soak the snow cover throughout the profile. It will suddenly lose its strength and pose an avalanche risk.

With precipitation and strong winds rising.