Allgäu Alps West

Caution: at high altitudes, considerable avalanche danger widespread

Heavily clouded, cold weather with light snowfall during the morning hours. In the afternoon, relatively dry, but still heavy cloud cover in the mountains, or even foggy. Bright intervals expected only in the large valleys. On Sunday night it will remain dry. Northerly winds will intensify the cold. Temperature at 2000m: from -8 degrees; at 3000m: -15 degrees. Brisk northerly winds at high altitude.

As a result of fresh snow and winds, avalanche danger will increase starting on Monday. Depending on amounts of snowfall, Danger Level 4 could be reached on Tuesday.

Caution: at high altitudes, considerable avalanche danger widespread

Avalanche danger above 2000m is considerable, below that altitude danger is moderate. Fresh snow and far-reaching snowdrift accumulations are easily triggered particularly on shady slopes. Slabs can be triggered by minimum additional loading and grow to medium-to-large sized releases. Settling noises when treading the snowpack and fractures on the surface can indicate imminent danger. Danger zones occur in wind-loaded steep terrain, behind sharp drops in the landscape, in gullies and bowls. The snowdrift accumulations generated over the last few days are blanketed by fresher snow, thus impossible to recognize. On very steep sunny grass-covered slopes, glide-snow avalanches can slide away and grow to medium size.

Over the last few days there has been lots of fresh snowfall, often transported by intermittently strong-to-stormy NW winds, frequently generating large, trigger-sensitive snowdrift accumulations. On Saturday night and during the day on Sunday, additional generally small-sized trigger-sensitive snowdrifts will accumulate due to the forecast 10cm of fresh snowfall. Inside the fresh snow and drifts of recent days there are weak intermediate layers and graupel. Beneath a melt-freeze crust in the uppermost third of the snowpack there is often a layer of faceted crystals. The mid-section of the snowpack is well consolidated and compact widespread by and large, on shady slopes at high altitudes, it blankets a poorly structured old snowpack fundament.