Lechquellen Mountains

Generally favorable conditions. Caution urged on steep shady slopes.

Generally favorable conditions. Caution urged on steep shady slopes.

Avalanches can still be triggered by winter sports enthusiasts, particularly in little-skied backcountry terrain where the surface is not capable of bearing loads. Danger zones occur especially in spots where the snow is relatively shallow, and in transitions from shallow to deep snow. Avalanches can trigger down to deeper layers inside the snowpack and grow to large size. A cautious route selection and maintaining safety distances between tourers on ascents and descents are recommended. On hard-frozen steep slopes, the danger of sliding and falling require special caution. During the course of the day, likelihood of naturally triggered small wet-snow avalanches triggering increases somewhat on sunny, steep slopes.

Following a night of clear skies and good longwave outgoing radiation, the snowpack is well consolidated and stable. Generally there is a melt-freeze crust capable of bearing loads, which softens up during the daytime hours from east-to-south-to-west. On shady slopes at higher altitudes there are unbonded large cup-shaped crystals in the lowermost part of the snowpack. In high alpine regions of the Silvretta Massif, small-sized fresh snowdrift accumulations have recently been generated.

Predominantly sunny mountain weather, thin cirrus clouds in the afternoon, with some flat cumulus clouds, less haze from Sahara dust. Temperature at 2000m: 0 to 5 degrees; at 3000m: -3 degrees. Light winds at high altitudes, brisker on the foehn-exposed mountains.

No significant change is anticipated. The persistent weak layer problem on shady high-altitude slopes will persist.