Bregenzerwald Mountains

Increasingly frequent wet-snow avalanches due to warmth

Increasingly frequent wet-snow avalanches due to warmth

Due to striking rise in temperatures and solar radiation, increasingly frequent wet-snow avalanches can be expected, esp. on sunny slopes but also in shady terrain. Wet-snow and glide-snow avalanches can grow to medium size in starting zones where there is enough snow, releases can grow large. With ascending altitude and in high-alpine regions, small fresh and older snowdrift accumulations are still trigger-prone, now blanketed by the most recent fresh fallen snow and difficult to recognize. The danger of falling outweighs that of snow masses.

Recent fresh snow was able to settle and consolidate, it lies deposited atop a mostly compact, moist-to-wet old snowpack and is well bonded. Marked weak layers are not evident. Near-surface layers have Sahara dust embedded. As temperatures rise, firmness will be forfeited. Very little snow below 1500 m.

Nocturnal hours: heavy cloud cover, mild. Friday daytime: Striking rise in temperatures. zero-degree level ascending to over 3000 m. Quite sunny. At 2000 m: 5-10 degrees. Moderate to brisk SW winds.

Saturday will be quite sunny, even milder. Zero-degree level will rise to 4000 m! Wet-snow avalanches will increase significantly, also glide-snow avalanches will be more frequent.