Snow conditions 23.3.2012
23.03.2012
On Wednesday and Thursday, the weather in the mountains was sunny. The snow line was at around 2500 m above sea level. The snow cover became denser during the day and froze at night.
Avalanche conditions have hardly changed. The snow cover is mostly covered with a crust that bears human weight, or it is consolidated to depth. During the day, it softens, especially at lower elevations where the snow is soft and wet during the day.
Significant snow cover extends into shady slopes mostly up to around 1100 m a.s.l., on sun-facing slopes it is bare even above 1600 m. At 1500 m a.s.l., consolidated snow cover is mainly on plateaus and shady slopes. In the Julian Alps there is up to around 40 cm of snow, elsewhere up to around 30 cm. Above 2000 m in the Julian Alps there is up to around 80 cm of snow. Avalanche danger is grade 1. The snow cover is mostly well transformed, especially in places with wind-packed snow there are still insufficiently bonded layers in depth on which snow can slab only if the snow cover softens or becomes soaked due to sun and high temperature. Especially on wind-exposed spots and in shaded locations there is also danger of gliding.
Today it will still be mostly clear. For the weekend, it will be variably cloudy and on Saturday afternoon, evening and until Sunday early afternoon short-term local showers will occur, above around 1700 m snowy. The snow line will drop somewhat and will be below 2500 m. Due to more cloud cover, the sun will not influence the snow cover as much, which will soften less during the day than usual. Avalanche conditions will not change much.
New report will be issued on Monday, 26.3.2012.
General avalanche danger is grade 1 on the European five-level scale.
Source: ARSO