Hochschwab Mountains

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

Low avalanche danger, but persistent weak layer problems in the northern and eastern exposures!

The avalanche risk is low. In the northern and eastern exposures, there is still a persistent weak layer problem at altitudes above the tree line. In addition, the strong to stormy southerly winds have created fresh pillows of wind drifted snow. In steep terrain, these can be triggered in a few places. However, the avalanches remain small even if they tear through to the old snowpack. In general, the risk of entrainment, falling and injury outweighs the risk of burial. However, be careful in the area of terrain traps.

There is still significantly less snow than average. A thin, partly bound snowpack covers a very variable and mostly hard old snowpack. There is significantly more snow in shady gullies and bowls than on sunny slopes, some of which are partly bare up to 2000 metres. In the northern and eastern exposures, the snowpack is still weakened by layers with faceted crystals and floating snow (persistent weak layer problem!).

It will rain and snow intermittently from Hochschwab to Veitsch, especially in the first half of the night. The snowfall level is around 1000 metres. Tomorrow, Thursday, will be mostly cloudy, with clouds and fog dominating at first and visibility severely limited until midday. In the northern Alps, it will already be largely free of precipitation with higher cloud bases. There is a chance of sunny spells, especially in the afternoon. The temperature at an altitude of 2000 metres will be around 0 degrees. The temperature at an altitude of 1500 metres will be around 2 degrees. A brisk wind with gusts around 60 km/h from the south. The wind will certainly weaken in the afternoon.

On Friday, there will be a brief intermittent high with some sunny spells. In the afternoon, it will become cloudy again from the west. Some new fallen snow is expected in the north-west in the night to Saturday. No change in the avalanche risk is expected on Friday.