Západné Tatry

Watch out for wind slabs, on hard to icy ground.

Watch out for wind slabs, on hard to icy ground.

There will be wind-whipped slabs and cushions of varying thickness and hardness over much of the area above the forest zone. This wind-blown snow lies on a hard to icy substrate with which it is not sufficiently well bonded. Avalanches are possible on some steep slopes, especially with high additional loads. Under layers of hard snow there is a soft, unstable layer which can release an avalanche in the event of a large additional load. The danger in this case is a large additional load in the form of two or more skiers in one place.

New dry snow from the last snowfall (up to 20 cm) is lying on hard ground. During the night and in the morning this snow will be shaped by south to south-westerly winds into snow slabs and pillows of varying thickness and hardness. This will create places where there will be only a hard base and, conversely, places where there will be a larger amount of snow.

The effect of the wind rising.