2015-12-01T11:15:00+01:00 Patrick Nairz 2015-12-01+01:00 https://lawine.tirol.gv.at/data/fotos/wind_15.jpg Over the next few days very steep, drifted zones should be studiously avoided. An update will be published when the next major snowfall occurs. Daily bulletins will be launched as soon as winter genuinely begins. Beware snowdrift accumulations at high altitude! DP6 DP1 Alpine Weather Forecast (ZAMG-Weather Service Innsbruck) Alpine weather on 1 December 2015: storm winds, rain or snowfall, extremely inhospitable conditions on and north of the Main Alpine Ridge. Visibility severely limited due to fog. Snowfall level at 2000 m. Fresh fallen snow: 10-15 cm on the Arlberg. In the Southern Alps, next to no precipitation, storm winds and poor visibility. On Tuesday night a significant improvement in conditions is anticipated. Temperature at 2000 m: 0 degrees; at 3000 m: -4 degrees. Stormy NW winds, tapering off during the day, slackening off more significantly during the night tonight. Snow Layering Far and wide in Tirol there is too little snow to ski in open terrain, most possible in western regions and in glacier terrain, where insufficient crevasse covering is an additional peril. Decisive at the current juncture of the season is the freshly formed snowdrift at high altitude, whose likelihood of triggering tends to increase with ascending altitude. Weak layers are found in the new fallen snow now covered over; and also in the thin, faceted layer beneath a thin crust above approximately 2600 m in W-NW to N to E-NE aspects. In high alpine regions (above 3000 m) faceted crystals riddle the weak layers of the snowpack, including in southern aspects. No snow-analysis profiles are currently available. Avalanche Danger Above approximately 2600 m in western regions and the zones along the Main Alpine Ridge, considerable avalanche danger prevails as a result of the snow transport by strong winds and significant rise in temperatures, accompanied by rainfall up to 2700 m in some places. The major peril stems from recently formed snowdrift accumulations which can be triggered even by minimum additional loading. Due to the shallowness of the snow, the danger zones are found primarily in very steep gullies and bowls and in very steep areas behind edges or protruberances in the terrain; whereas immediately adjacent areas are often windblown or have very little snow. In glacier terrain the avalanche prone locations occur more frequently, since weak layers are evident in the snow cover, at least in W-NW to N to E-NE aspects above approximately 2600 m, thus, the proneness to triggering has persisted for longer and will continue to do so.