Weisseck, Muhr Valley

Assess snowdrift accumulations on steep shady slopes with caution

Saturday will bring quite sunny, foehn-impacted weather in the mountains. In the afternoon, clouds will move in from the south, possibly hampering visibility in the Hohe Tauern. Winds will be moderate from southerly to easterly directions, stormy southerly foehn winds at high altitudes in the Tauern, slackening off during the daytime (initially 50-70 km/hr). At 2000m: at midday -1 degree; at 3000m: -6 degrees.

No change expected

Assess snowdrift accumulations on steep shady slopes with caution

Avalanche danger above the timberline is moderate, below that altitude danger is low. Fresh snowdrift accumulations can in some places be triggered even by one sole skier, esp. in steep ridgeline terrain, also on slopes behind protruberances in the landscape which are distant from ridgelines. Avalanches can grow to medium size if they fracture to more deeply embedded layers. Trigger points lie esp. in transitions from shallow to deeper snow or in the opposite direction, esp, on very steep north-facing slopes. Naturally triggered small glide-snow avalanches are possible in isolated cases.

Southerly foehn winds will generate shallow snowdrift accumulations on shady slopes which will be prone to triggering atop the loose, faceted old snowpack surface. Inside the old snowpack on very steep shady slopes there are weak layers of faceted crystals. On the one hand, the snow was able to metamorphose esp. where snow is shallow; on the other, below the near-surface melt-freeze crust there are also faceted crystals. Snowdrifts can form a slab on the surface above the faceted crystals. On shady slopes loose snow is still evident.