2014-11-06T09:21:00+01:00 Patrick Nairz 2014-11-06+01:00 https://lawine.tirol.gv.at/data/fotos/dolomitenhuette.jpg Avalanche danger is expected to recede relatively rapidly. The next report will be published whenever the situation worsens. Caution in high alpine regions: fresh, easily triggered snowdrift! DP6 DP2 Alpine Weather Forecast (ZAMG-Weather Service Innsbruck) General weather on 06.11.2014: The frontal system which stretches over Austria and is scooping moist air masses against the Eastern Alps from the south, is moving only incrementally towards the east. Tirol will persist in getting the brunt of a southerly airstream, air masses in North Tirol will become drier as of tomorrow, in East Tirol the heavy rainfall will terminate. Mountain weather on 06.11.2014: heavy fog, snowfall most of the time, least in furthermost western regions where there will be some dry phases this afternoon in particular. The greatest amounts of fresh fallen snow are anticipated in East Tirol, where precipitation is rainfall up to intermediate altitudes. Temperature at 2000 m: in northern regions, -3 to 0 degrees; south of Main Alpine Ridge, 0 to +3 degrees; at 3000 m: -2 degrees. Southerly winds are still brisk in high alpine regions, otherwise prevailing winds are light. Snow Layering Since day before yesterday in East Tirol, and since yesterday in North Tirol, it has been raining and snowing. The snowfall level dropped relatively swiftly down to low altitudes in North Tirol, while in East Tirol the precipitation below approximately 2400 m was mostly rain. All in all, between the Ötztal Alps in the west and the East Tirol Tauern in the east, there has been at least 50 cm of new fallen snow at high altitudes. Particularly in North Tirol, winds in the early phase increasingly transported the fresh snow. In East Tirol, winds continue to blow at strong velocity. In high alpine regions of East Tirol there has been as much as 100 cm of fresh fallen snow. Danger zones inside the snow cover are found, if at all, in the new fallen snow. No faceting has yet occurred in the old snowpack which formed on 22 October, to our knowledge. Avalanche Danger In the regions along the Main Alpine Ridge where snowfall has been heaviest, including Ötztal, Stubai and Zillertal Alps as well as the East Tirolean Tauern and central East Tirol, drifted snow masses have accumulated which are prone to triggering. They require high attentiveness and caution particularly by freeriders in the glacier ski regions. According to reports from the Ötztal, these snowdrifts can currently be triggered even by minimum additional loading. We recommend that skiers circumvent very steep, wind loaded slopes to every extent possible over coming days. With ascending altitude, the likelihood of the snowpack triggering tends to increase. Due to the higher up snowfall lines in southern East Tirol, only high altitudes evidence avalanche danger. Caution: freshly formed snowdrift accumulations can at times be difficult to recognize as a result of easing winds and the loosely packed new fallen snow deposited on top of the drifted masses. In the regions which have had the greatest amounts of snowfall, snowslides on steep, grass-covered slopes also demand high attentiveness. This applies particularly to the southern sectors of North Tirol, due to the lower down snowfall altitudes.