2021-02-17T17:00:00+00:00 avalanche-warnings.eu 2021-02-17T23:00:00+00:00 2021-02-18T23:00:00+00:00 2 1 drifting snow near ridges, behind protruberances old snow in shady and high alpine terrain Still trigger-sensitive snowdrifts at high altitude In E/S aspects, still trigger-sensitive snowdrifts, triggerable in steep terrain even by minimum additional loading. In northern aspects, still avalanche prone locations due to concealed weak layers in the old snow. At low altitudes, warmth can lead to naturally triggered, small wet-snow avalanches on south-facing slopes in particular. Above 1800 m, compacted snow from NW winds lies atop a very cold loose old snowpack surface. The base is encrusted on sunny slopes, compact on wind-exposed slopes, full of weak layers of faceted crystals on shady slopes. At low altitudes the snowpack surface is becoming rapidly moist and rough, the melt-freeze crusts beneath are being transformed only slowly. Until then, bonding between the moistened layers and the cold melt-freeze crusts is rather poor. Thursday will be predominantly sunny and free of precipitation, after remaining residual clouds disperse. Mild. Midday temperatures at 2000 m: +2 degrees; at 1500 m, +6 degrees. Winds will be moderate from west to southwest. On Friday in Upper Styria, more clouds will move in, otherwise it will often be sunny and remain dry. Temperatures will remain mild, the moistening of the snowpack will continue, also at high altitudes. 2021-02-17T17:00:00+00:00 avalanche-warnings.eu 2021-02-17T23:00:00+00:00 2021-02-18T23:00:00+00:00 2 1 drifting snow near ridges, behind protruberances wet snow strong warming impulse Still small snowdrifts in ridgeline zones, increasing wet-snow problem Avalanche prone locations from snowdrifts are found still near ridgelines and, in particular, behind protruberances in the landscape in E/S aspects. Here, large additional loading can trigger a slab avalanche. In addition, the warmth can naturally trigger small wet-snow avalanches on steep slopes in all aspects. At hight altitudes, particularly in E/S aspects, trigger-sensitive snowdrifts lie atop a melt-freeze encrusted old snowpack surface. As a result of warming, the snowpack surface is rapidly becoming rough and moist, the melt-freeze layers beneath are slowly transforming. Bonding between the moist layers and the cold melt-freeze encrusted layers is relative poor. At low altitudes the snow is being decimated through warmth and solar radiation. Thursday will be predominantly sunny and free of precipitation, after remaining residual clouds disperse. Mild. Midday temperatures at 2000 m: +1 degree; at 1500 m, +3 degrees. Winds will be moderate from west to southwest. Friday will be predominantly sunny, only in Upper Styria will some residual cloud pass over the peaks. It will remain dry and temperatures will be mild. The wet-snow problem will increase also at high altitudes.