Werdenfels Alps

At high altitudes slab avalanches can grow to large size.

At high altitudes slab avalanches can grow to large size.

Avalanche danger above the treeline is considerable, below that altitude avalanche danger is low but will rise to moderate during the daytime. Fresh snow and drifts are problematic. Slab avalanches can be triggered even by minimum additional loading, or trigger naturally and grow to large size above the treeline. Danger zones occur near to and distant from ridgelines in steep terrain in NW/E/SW aspects. Particularly during the latter part of the day, loose-snow avalanches can trigger naturally in extremely steep terrain in all aspects and grow to large size at high altitudes. Exposed transportation routes can be placed at risk.

As a result of strong westerly winds, 30 to 50 cm of fresh snowfall is anticipated by Monday evening. Freshly generated trigger-sensitive snowdrift accumulations will be generated. They will be deposited atop an unfavorable old snowpack surface or atop old drifts which are themselves prone to triggering. Particularly at high altitudes there are weak layers consisting of faceted crystals located near crusts deeply embedded inside the snowpack which can be prone to triggering. The snowpack shows high impact from winds and is very irregular.

Avalanche danger levels remain tense. Depending on the amount of snowfall intensity they could increase further by mid-week.