Allgäu Alps West

Mostly moderate danger, glide-snow avalanches, fresh drifts

Mostly moderate danger, glide-snow avalanches, fresh drifts

As a result of fresh snow and strong NW winds, mostly small but trigger-prone snowdrift accumulations have been generated. Near-surface layers and older drifts are still prone to triggering, increasingly so with ascending altitude. Such danger zones occur mostly in transitions from shallow to deeper snow or on heavily wind-loaded slopes. Avalanches can be triggered by large additional loading and grow to medium size. Backcountry sports require prudent route selection. Caution urged near cornices. The situation is more critical at high altitudes, loose-snow avalanches are possible esp. in steep sunny and rocky tererain. Glide-snow avalanches are still a threat on steep grass-covered and rocky slopes in all aspects, avoid zones below glide cracks.

By Thursday evening there was 10 cm of fresh snow registered, up to 15 cm in the Allgäu Alps. On Thursday night a few more cm will be added to it. Fresh snow was transported by brisk-to-streong W/NW winds, formed mostly small-sized fresh snowdrift accumulations, often deposited on soft layers, otherwise atop melt-freeze encrusted surfaces, bonding moderate, sometimes with blanketed graupel. The warm ground and the moist-to-wet snowpack are reinforcing gliding snow movement.

Nocturnal hours: In the early part of the night, gray skies and wet, snowfall level dropping to 1000-900 m. Friday daytime: Compact cloud layers permitting only intermittent sunshine, more in the afternoon. Temperatures rising, zero-degree level rising to nearly 2500 m by evening. At 2000 m: -1 degree. Brisk to strong N/NW winds.

High-pressure conditions will bring mild and sunny weather on the weekend, the zero-degree level on Saturday rising to 2700 m. Danger of dry-snow avalanches will decrease.