Lower Tauern South

Snowpack becoming massively wet

Snowpack becoming massively wet

Avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. Naturally triggered wet-snow and glide-snow avalanches are expected, mostly medium sized, also larger, they can sweep along large amounts of snow with them and grow large-sized. The wetness is reaching ever higher altitudes: on south-facing slopes at all aspects, on north-facing slopes below 2600 m; on E/W facing slopes below 2800 m, particularly where there is not much snow on the ground and in rocky terrain, wet-snow avalanches are possible. Backcountry tours should pay close heed to the march of time during the day, and its results.Huge cornices are losing their firmness through wetness, can break or collapse during the day.

At night only a thin melt-freeze crust can form, it quickly melts in the morning. Apart from altitude, aspect and steepness gradient decide the degree of wetness. On steep E/S facing slopes they are the first to become wet, on south-facing slopes up to high alpine regions, on E/W facing slopes up to 3000 m, on north-facing slopes below 2600 m. The snowpack is stable, so most avalanches are wet-snow ones, esp. in zones where there is not as much snow on the ground, they trigger esp. with large additional loading or when a cornice breaks. The loss of firmness leads to massive amounts of snow being possibly swept along in the plummet paths of releasing avalanches, even down to zones below 1700 m where there is hardly any snow.

Nighttime skies will be variably cloudy, clouds from the west will move in later in the night.On Tuesday, dry and foehn-generated sunny weather, compact clouds above summit level, somewhat diffuse light, made hazier by dust from the Sahara. The winds will be brisk, stronger in the Tauern, from the south. In evening, heavy cloud will move in from the NW, temperatures will drop noticeably, brisk W/NW winds will intensify, reaching 60-80 km/hr, visibility will deteriorate. In Tauern and Lungau sunny for longer. Precipiation will follow on Tuesday night. At 2000 m before the cold front arrives: 10-12 degrees; at 3000 m. 3-5 degrees.

On Wednesday, somewhat cooler, some fresh snowfall is expected. The gliding snow activity will not decrease.