Snow conditions 10.1.2014
10.01.2014
Dry weather in the mountains continues. On Wednesday and Thursday, the freezing level was high above our peaks, but by this morning it had dropped to around 1700 m above sea level. The snow cover has been settling and transforming. Individual smaller slabs of south-facing snow have released from steep slopes. Overnight, the snow surface froze mainly in the high mountains and softened again during the day.
The most snow is in the high mountains of the Julian Alps, up to around 220 cm, in higher parts of the Karawanks and Kamnik-Savinja Alps locally around 110 cm. At 1500 m in the Julians up to around 90 cm, elsewhere less. Lower down, snow has also diminished. Significant snow cover starts at around 1300 m above sea level. On wind-exposed sites, snow is quite wind-packed.
Avalanche danger is in the high mountains, above around 1500 m, level 2, elsewhere mostly level 1.
The snowpack is relatively stable, more unstable mainly at sites with wind-deposited snow and on sufficiently steep slopes, where you can trigger an avalanche especially with greater additional load on the snowpack.
Until Monday, the weather will be dry. Today, Friday, it will be mostly cloudy and foggy, only the highest peaks may be above the clouds, only in the eastern Karawanks and on Pohorje will it also be sunny. On Saturday and Sunday, it will be quite clear in the eastern Karawanks and on Pohorje.
Elsewhere, the cloud top will be somewhat lower, on Sunday the clouds will break. The freezing level will rise again on Saturday to around 2200 m above sea level, on Sunday it will drop to around 1800 m. Snow will refreeze somewhat mainly in the high mountains and also stabilize.
Locally it will therefore become quite hard and dangerous for slips. Lower down, snow will remain mostly wet, freezing only overnight in areas without clouds. Avalanche danger will decrease slightly further.
The next snowpack report will be issued on Monday, 13.1.2014.
General avalanche danger is level 2 on the European five-level scale.
Snow depth:
200 cm Kredarica (2515 m)
95 cm Vogel (1540 m)
13 cm Krvavec (1740 m)
Source: ARSO