Fresh snow and storm
Partly high risk of avalanches in the southern Alps
Spontaneous avalanches at altitude can also sweep away wet old snow at medium altitudes (symbolic image). photo
© Maxime Schmid/KEYSTONE/dpa
White splendor becomes a danger: fresh snow and strong winds increase the risk of avalanches. “Very large and occasionally extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected,” it says.
Today there was a high risk of avalanches in Austria in the southern Ötztal Alps and in the central Stubai Alps, as well as in parts of Graubünden and Valais in Switzerland and in South Tyrol in Italy. “Very large and occasionally extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected,” said the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos. The Tyrol avalanche report spoke of a “sometimes critical avalanche situation”, with particular dangers above the tree line.
There had been a lot of fresh snow at higher altitudes in the previous days. The strong wind caused large accumulations of drifting snow, which are particularly prone to triggering, as was stated in all descriptions of the situation. Spontaneous avalanches at altitude could also sweep away wet old snow at medium altitudes.
Avalanche experts monitored the situation in the ski areas in order to close ski slopes at risk. Ski tourers who are outside the marked pistes are at greater risk. In Switzerland, 14 people died in twelve avalanche accidents in the winter of 2023/24 by the end of March.