Snow conditions 14.3.2014

Sunny and relatively warm weather continues. The snow line has risen to the highest peaks in recent days. The snow cover has rapidly transformed, settled, and melted significantly at lower altitudes. Even at night, the snow surface did not freeze properly in many places.

In the mid-day and afternoon, individual slabs of southern snow released on steeper sun-exposed slopes.



The snow cover reaches an elevation of about 800 m, on sun-exposed slopes up to about 1300 m. Snow depth is quite uneven.

The most snow above 1800 m is in the western Julian Alps, where it exceeds 600 cm in places, elsewhere in the Julian Alps in higher areas up to about 500 cm, in the central Karawanks and Kamnik-Savinja Alps up to about 200 cm. At 1500 m, in the Julian Alps and western Karawanks up to about 300 cm, elsewhere 80 to 130 cm. The snow cover is crusted in places, in partially shaded areas it is icy and hard in the morning. During the day, snow softens greatly on sunny slopes. In shaded areas, snow remains less transformed and especially in high mountains still soft. There is a lot of wind-deposited snow and slabs.

Avalanche danger is mostly level 2.

The snowpack is mostly moderately stable. Steeper slopes are particularly dangerous. Problematic remain steeper shaded areas with wind-deposited snow. Also on sun-exposed slopes, the snowpack becomes more unstable already in the morning, the upper layer softens and on steeper slopes slides over somewhat harder lower layers upon loading, a wet snow avalanche may release spontaneously. At night, the snowpack is only slightly more stable.



Dry weather will continue until the second half of next week. Mostly sunny, temporary cloudiness from the north only on Saturday afternoon and Saturday night to Sunday. On Saturday, a moderate wind from westerly directions will blow, possibly drawing low clouds into the mountains during the day in places. It will cool slightly, snow line temporarily dropping to about 2000 m. On Sunday, northwesterly to northerly wind will strengthen. In the first half of next week, it will warm up again.

Snow will continue to settle and transform, and melt at lower elevations.

The snowpack will gradually stabilize, but steeper slopes will remain more unstable, especially sun-exposed areas midday and afternoon and higher shaded slopes with wind-deposited snow.

The next snow report will be issued on Monday, 17.3.2014 in the morning.



General avalanche danger is level 2 on the European five-level scale.



Source: ARSO