Lower Tauern South

High avalanche danger. During daytime hours, increasing naturally triggered releases.

High avalanche danger. During daytime hours, increasing naturally triggered releases.

Avalanche danger is high above 1600 m, below that altitude danger is considerable. Due to storm winds and large amounts of fresh snow, many avalanches can trigger naturally, possibly reaching medium size. Danger zones in all aspects in wind-protected terrain, increase with ascending altitude. Below 2500 m, medium-sized glide-snow avalanches can release naturally at any time of day, on steep smooth slopes (grass, rocks) in all aspects. Furthermore, due to rain impact wet loose-snow avalanches are possible in extremely steep terrain, mostly small sized.

The massive amounts of transported fresh snow was deposited at high altitudes on shady slopes atop a loose snowpack surface. Even where the surface was encrusted, the crust formed a faceted weak layer in some places. In addition, weak near-surface layers are forming inside the masses of fresh fallen snow. At intermediate to low altitudes, rain and snow are increasing the weight load on the snowpack. The entire snow cover can glide downhill over smooth ground. At high-alpine altitudes above 2500 m, the old snowpack base still has faceted layers.

Cloud cover is heavy, heavy snowfall will be persistent. The large amounts of precipitation are striking the NW barrier cloud zones, somewhat less in the Voralps. The snowfall level lies at 1000 m, will ascend during the day from the west. Visibility is severely reduced due to low lying clouds, intensive snowfall and drifting snow masses. At high altitudes, 50-100 cm of fresh snow is anticipated. Winds are westerly, blowing at storm strength, gusts at high altitudes reaching more than 120 km/hr. Huge snowdrifts are the result. At 2000 m: -6 degrees; at 3000 m: -13 degrees.

Persistent storm winds and some fresh snow: the avalanche situation will remain tense.