Snow conditions 2.12.2016

General hazard level - Friday, 2 December 2016

Hazard level is 1 on the European 5-level scale - LOW.

Main problem: wind slab

Hazard pattern: Cooling after warm weather / warming after cold



Risk assessment

Avalanche danger is mostly level 1, LOW. Only places with wind-blown snow on steeper slopes are more dangerous, where with greater additional loading in the area of the eastern Julian Alps, where it snowed on Monday night, small slab avalanches can still be triggered. Ridges are quite wind-scoured and icy in places, the snow cover is otherwise hard and icy in many places, so there is a risk of slips.



Snow conditions

On Wednesday it warmed up considerably in the mountains, yesterday morning the freezing level was at about 2000 m a.s.l., today it has risen to 2400 m a.s.l. But since the air was dry, the snow only slightly crusted during the day on sun-exposed slopes, where it froze overnight. The snow cover is mostly at least partially transformed and covered with a crust that supports human weight in places. Only in shaded areas of the eastern Julian Alps is there some soft snow from the last snowfall.



Forecast weather development

Dry weather will continue. Today, colder air will start to flow in again. By evening, the freezing level will drop to about 1500 m a.s.l., tomorrow below 900 m. Today a strong northwester will still blow, in the following days the wind will be relatively light. More cloudiness will be mainly on Saturday, but in the eastern part of our mountains it will very likely remain partly clear.



Trend in snow conditions

Due to cooling, the snow cover will be frozen and stable in the coming days, avalanche danger LOW. However, there will still be a risk of slips due to the hard and icy snow cover in places, and on wind-scoured ridges.



Next issue: Monday, 5 December 2016



Source: ARSO