Avalanche Service Upper Austria

Sunday 18 January 2026

Published 17 Jan 2026, 19:00:00


Danger level

treeline
Avalanche Problem
Persistent weak layer
Treeline


If fresh wind slab forms due to the strong southerly wind, this must be taken into account!

The avalanche danger is classified as moderate above the tree line. Only rarely could there be transportable snow. If there is fresh wind slab (strong southerly wind) in the extended northern sector, this is very prone to triggering and should therefore be avoided. There are still avalanche prone locations in extreme terrain (areas adjacent to the ridgeline, crests or summits, bowls and gullies) at high altitudes where weak layers in the old snowpack could be addressed, in particular due to large, sometimes small additional loads. Possible avalanches are mostly small to medium-sized.

Snowpack

The snow cover, snowpack was able to settle with the mild temperatures and incoming radiation. The snow base, fundament is weakened by the kinetic metamorphism. The old snowpack therefore contains layers with faceted crystals and/or floating snow. At high altitudes, fresh small-scale but very easily disturbed snowdrift accumulations could only form where transportable snow occurs. The snow depths are still very below average.

Tendency

No significant change in the snow and avalanche situation.