Snow conditions 16.1.2015
16.01.2015
Cloudy and mostly dry weather prevailed. Occasionally a southwesterly wind blew. The zero-degree level was on Thursday at around 2000 m a.s.l., this morning a little lower. Due to moist and relatively warm air, the snow cover transformed and settled somewhat more, only in the high mountains it remained largely unchanged.
At 2500 m a.s.l. there is up to about 110 cm of snow in the Julian Alps, at 1500 m up to about 30 cm, elsewhere up to about 20 cm.
Southern slopes are bare in many places even above 1500 m. The snow depth is quite uneven.
The snow cover in the high mountains is mostly crusty, also hard and especially on wind-exposed sites icy. In the mid-mountains it is softer due to higher temperatures. Only in shady locations of the high mountains is the snow still dry and soft in places.
Avalanche danger is level 1.
The snowpack is mostly stable. Avalanches can only be triggered with difficulty, mainly at places with wind-drifted snow and on steeper slopes. Especially at wind-exposed places there is also risk of gliding.
Today it will be cloudy in the western part of our mountains, some sun in the eastern Karawanks and on Pohorje. In the Julian Alps and in the hills of northern Primorska and Notranjska there will be occasional light precipitation, above about 1500 m snow. There will be little precipitation. More tomorrow, when in the evening they will spread over the entire mountain area. The snow line will mostly be between 1200 and 1500 m, in the east initially higher. Precipitation will mostly cease on Sunday morning. In total, 20 to about 40 cm of snow will fall in the Julian Alps and western Karawanks, perhaps even more in Posočje, elsewhere in our mountains 10 to 20 cm. During snowfall a strong southwesterly will blow, creating wind slabs and cornices. Avalanche risk will increase, mainly in the Julian Alps expected to level 3.
The next report will be published on Monday, 19.1.2015.
General avalanche danger is level 1 on the European five-level scale.
Source: ARSO