Hochschwab Mountains

Fresh snowdrifts leading to considerable avalanche danger down to forested zones

Fresh snowdrifts leading to considerable avalanche danger down to forested zones

Avalanche danger above about 1400 m is considerable, danger is moderate below that altitude. Avalanche prone locations are the freshly wind-loaded zones down to sparsely wooded areas, particularly in N/E/S aspects. At entries into steep gullies and bowls, on wind-loaded slopes, wooded zones and clearances, as well as behind protruberances, even the weight of one person is enough to trigger a slab avalanche. At high altitudes on shady slopes, large-sized avalanches are possible. Caution urged towards fresh cornices: they are instable.

In the Northern Alps there was up to 50 cm of fresh snow registered on Monday, during the night a few centimetres more could be added to it. The fresh fallen snow is being transported by NW winds and deposited in leeward zones down to forested areas as snowdrift accumulations. These still-expanding drifts lie mostly atop a hardened old snowpack surface, only in shady terrain was the surface still soft, even powdery, or covered with surface hoar. Bonding of the fresh drifts to the old snowpack is poor also on shady slopes. Here there are also weak layers deeper down inside the snowpack. On south-facing slopes, bonding to the old snow is good, but there are possibly weak layers embedded inside the fresh drifts (loose fresh snow). Exposed zones are generally windblown and icy.

On Tuesday, dense cloud will accumulate along the Northern Alps due to still strong NW winds. Visibility is poor, but snowfall has almost ended. Only in the northeast, in the Mürzsteger Alps and the Hochschwab region could there still be light snowfall in the afternoon. Further west and south, it will be sunny widespread and remain dry. Temperatures will rise. At 2000 m: -4 degrees at midday.

On Wednesday, sunny mountain weather by and large, and higher temperatures. Due to the warmth, increasingly frequent naturally triggered avalanches can be expected. The snowdrift problem will diminish.