Hochschwab Mountains

Fresh snowdrifts generated especially on south-facing slopes

Fresh snowdrifts generated especially on south-facing slopes

In the eastern sector of the Northern Alps, moderate danger prevails, due to fresh, brittle snowdrifts which since Monday have been deposited on steep south-facing slopes, particularly in ridgeline terrain down to the treeline. A slab behind protruberances and at entries into gullies and bowls can generally be triggered by minimum additional loading. Avalanche prone locations can be avoided through cautious route selection by experienced backcountry tourers. Isolated avalanche danger zones occur on N/E facing slopes, where there is a persistent weak layer deeply embedded. Triggering a slab cannot be ruled out on shady, extremely steep slopes. The loose powder cannot bond well with the melt-freeze crusts and icy layer beneath it, thus, there is high risk of falling on very steep slopes.

From Hochschwab over Veitsch and Schneealpe all the way to the Rax, the compact old snowpack surface is melt-freeze encrusted and, depending on aspect, more or less capable of bearing loads. While on sunny slopes there is still melt-freeze encrusting, on shady slopes the surface is hard, often icy. Atop of it in wind-protected zuones is often powder, mostly unbonded with the old snow beneath it. The often strong northerly winds have transported the cold snow since Monday to south-facing slopes.

The Eastern Alps lie at the eastern edge of a high-pressure front extending from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. From the north, cold and dry air masses are being brought to Styria. On Tuesday there will initially be low lying clouds from the Ennstal Alps eastwards, these will disperse in the course of the morning. By midday, sunshine is expected throughout the mountains. In the afternoon along the Northern Alps and the Fischbacher Alpls, some high-altitude cloudbanks will pass through. Northerly winds will be light, only in the Wechsel region will winds be brisk. West of the Liezen-Judenburg line, temperatures at midday at 2000 m will be -7 degrees; at 1500 m: -3 degrees; east of the line: -11 to -7 degrees. The pronounced high over Central Europe will persist on Wednesday. Except for a few clouds, persistent only in the Styrian rimline ranges to start with, it will be sunny everywhere. Light to moderate winds, and a tad warmer.

Due to the snowdrifts settling on sunny slopes, avalanche danger will decrease on Wednesday.