Watch out for wind-blown pillows of new snow and wet avalanches on sunlit slopes.
There is a moderate avalanche danger in the High and Western Tatras above 1200 m above sea level. The main avalanche problem is wet snow. Dangerous are especially sunny unlit S, SW and W orientations. Avalanche release is possible on steep slopes with little additional load. Small and medium avalanches are a threat, especially in conjunction with terrain traps. The second avalanche problem is wind-blown snow. At altitudes above 1800 m above sea level, there is very locally a large amount of new snow that is deposited on the critical crustal layer. Especially dangerous are narrow couloirs and places under rock walls.
Snowpack
The snow cover is very varied. At the highest altitudes, a very hard to icy layer alternates with wind-blown snow. On average, up to 20 cm of new snow has fallen in the last snowfall period, but locally there may be much more. There is also a critical layer of crusts in the snow profile. At mid-altitudes, the water-soaked snow cover from the previous days is freezing due to the cooling and is stabilising significantly. On sunlit slopes, new snow in particular is very poorly bonded to the hard ground.
Tendency
With warming rising.
Danger level
Avalanche Problem
Wet snow
Watch out for wet avalanches on sunlit slopes.
There is a low avalanche danger in the Fatras and the Low Tatras. Avalanches are generally possible on very steep slopes with high additional loads.
Occasionally, spontaneous small avalanches or avalanches from wet snow may occur on sunlit orientations. Their release poses a risk especially in connection with falling over rock thresholds and other terrain traps.
Snowpack
The snow cover in our mountains is very varied. On the sunlit orientations, especially in the south, southwest and west, it is soaked by the sunlight and gets wet to the hard ground. On the other hand, on shaded orientations, the snow surface is very hard and load-bearing after night frosts. Depending on the orientation, a continuous snow cover can be found from 1200 m above sea level.
