Lower Tauern Central

Fresh snowdrifts still trigger sensitive

On Thursday, good visibility above the fog, widespread sunshine. Light snow showers possible in early morning. Residual clouds will soon disperse. Moderate NW winds in Niedere Taurn in early morning (40 km/hr), later slackening off. Otherwise, only light winds. Light winds. At 2000 m: -9 degrees, during the daytime at -6 degrees, rising during the nocturnal hours. At 3000 m -13 degrees.

The snowdrift problem is diminishing. As temperatures rise, the wet-snow problem will increase.

Fresh snowdrifts still trigger sensitive

Snowdrift accumulations are still easy to trigger. Danger zones occur on wind-protected north facing slopes, esp. near ridgelines and in gullies, bowls. Avalanches of medium size can be triggered in some places above 2200 m even by minimum additional loading (1 person). Danger zones increase in frequency with ascending altitude. Slab avalanches can be triggered in zones where the snow is shallow abouve 2200 m, or can sweep away more deeply embedded layers of the snowpack and grow to large size. Glide-snow activity persists. Medium-sized avalanches can trigger at any time on steep grassy slopes and over rock plates. Areas below glide cracks should be avoided.

The fresh snow from Wednesday has bonded well with the old snowpack. Fresh snowdrift patches at high altitudes are deposited atop soft snow, still prone to triggering in isolated cases. The old snowpack base is largely stable. The lowermost part of the snowpack below 2400