Weisseck, Muhr Valley

Prone to triggering snowdrift accumulations should be avoided

Prone to triggering snowdrift accumulations should be avoided

The avalanche danger is moderate above 2400 m and low below. Slab avalanches can still be triggered in some places above around 2400 m by small additional loads (individual people) in the wind slab and can occasionally be of medium size. Danger areas due to wind slab avalanches are usually easy to recognise and are located particularly adjacent to the ridgeline, behind the edges of the terrain and in gullies and bowls. In shady slopes, there are also isolated trigger points for small to medium-sized slab avalanches in persistent weak layers that are difficult to disturb. There is a risk of burial in particular in the vicinity of terrain traps.

The snow cover, snowpack is highly variable. On the surface, there are blown-in areas with clearly recognisable snowdrift accumulations next to blown-off areas where a melt-freeze crust forms the snow surface. Beneath this is a fluffy layer of faceted crystals and melt-freeze crusts. Prone to triggering weak layers are most likely to be found in the fresh drift snow packs and at the transition to the melt-freeze crust. Due to the overall heavily built-up transformed snow cover, the fracture propagation potential deeper in the old snowpack is generally low, but in isolated places a prone to triggering combination of weak layer and snowpack cannot be ruled out. The snow depth is well below average at all altitudes.

On Saturday, residual clouds will clear quickly and then the sun will mostly shine. Clouds will gather in the late afternoon and evening. The wind will still be blowing in the morning at high altitudes in the Tauern mountains with gusts of up to 60 km/h, but it will ease during the day. It will be very cold, with temperatures of around -11 degrees Celsius at 2000 metres and -18 degrees Celsius at 3000 metres.

No significant change in avalanche danger.