The weekend’s snow drift accumulations are still prone to triggering in some places.
On west, north and east facing slopes above approximately 2200 m in practically all regions, weak layers with faceted crystals
exist near the base of the snowpack. In western Lower Valais and on the northern flank of the Alps the weak old snow is mostly
embedded deep, so that the probability of avalanches releasing in this weak base layer is small. From central Valais through
Ticino to Grisons and generally in places with shallow snow cover, the bonding of the snowpack is least favourable and the
probability of avalanches releasing in the old snow is highest.
As a consequence of significant warming and radiation as the day progressed, the surface of the snowpack became moist both
below approximately 1500 m and, at higher altitudes, on steep sunny slopes in particular. Mostly clear skies on Monday night
will give rise to a brittle melt-freeze crust on the surface of the snowpack.
Gliding avalanche activity has increased as a consequence of the warming, and gliding avalanches are to be expected in the
coming days as well. In the western and northern regions with a lot of snow, these can reach a large size in some cases.