Snow Conditions 19.12.2022

General avalanche danger level - Monday, 19 December 2022
Danger is level 2 on the European five-level scale - MODERATE.
Main problem: wind slab
Danger pattern: cooling after warm weather / warming after cold

Risk assessment
Avalanche danger above about 1800 m is MODERATE, level 2, lower down LOW, level 1. Dangerous especially places with wind slab on sufficiently steep slopes, where individual spontaneous avalanches are possible, but above all you can trigger an avalanche with minor additional load to the snowpack, which has become somewhat less stable due to the thaw.

Snow conditions
After cooling on Saturday, 5 to about 15 cm of snow fell in the mountains, the snow line dropped to the lowlands. The snowpack remained soft, loose and dry until today, the north-east wind created wind slabs on south and west sides of ridges and saddles at the end of the week. Today due to warming the snowpack has already settled somewhat and become damp especially in the high mountains, below about 1500 m it will thaw in the night to Tuesday. Many wind slabs on variously oriented slopes, wind-exposed spots are quite scoured. Snowpack depth is quite uneven. Steep slopes have slid in places and have almost no snow there, lower-lying plateaus can be snow-covered.

Forecast weather development
Tonight and tomorrow it will first cloud over on Primorsko, then tomorrow cloudiness will spread to the interior of Slovenia. Presumably the top of the cloud layer at altitude between 1400 and 1900 m. Higher over the area of Snežnik and Notranjska, lower towards the north. Fewer clouds towards the north-east, top of the layer mostly below about 1000 m. Moderate south-westerly will blow. Relatively warm, but the air above the clouds will be dry. Also on Wednesday there will be less cloudiness in the eastern part of our mountains, while cloudiness in the west will thicken and rise somewhat. Light rain will occur on Notranjska and Primorsko. Moderate westerly to south-westerly wind will blow, which will weaken towards evening and turn to north-westerly. Still quite warm. In the night to Thursday it will temporarily cloud over and clear by morning, only low cloud will remain lower down, also on Primorsko where it will be thicker. South-westerly will blow again. In the high mountains it will cool slightly, in the mid-mountains not.

Tendency of snow conditions
Due to the thaw the snowpack will first become somewhat damp and unstable, but due to low relative humidity we do not expect much increased avalanche activity. Individual avalanches of poorly bonded and somewhat damp snow can release from steep slopes. Overall, however, the snowpack will start to settle somewhat faster, the snow crystals in it will bond. In the high mountains, where there is the most snow from the past weekend end, and thus slabs, avalanche danger will temporarily increase and be CONSIDERABLE, level 3, by Thursday gradually decrease again. Due to dry air, snow will hardly melt.

Next issue: Thursday, 22 December 2022

Source: ARSO