Snow conditions 24.2.2014

In the night leading to Saturday and on Saturday, it snowed in the mountains. Between 10 and about 50 cm of snow fell, the most again in the Julian Alps and the western Karawanks. In the high mountains, snow fell on a light base layer, while lower down there was often a crust or southerly, wet snow. The bond between old and new snow is quite variable, but mostly good. A southwesterly wind blew, followed by a northeasterly, transporting snow into drifts. On Sunday, there was some sunshine. The snowline was at around 1000 m above sea level. By this morning, it had risen to around 1200 m.



The snow cover mostly extends to about 700 m above sea level.

Snow depth is particularly variable in the high mountains due to the wind.

The most snow is above 1800 m in the western Julian Alps, where it exceeds 700 cm, elsewhere in the Julians up to about 560 cm, in the western and central Karawanks and the Kamnik-Savinja Alps around 340 cm. At 1500 m, it reaches up to about 350 cm in the Julians and western Karawanks, elsewhere 120 to 170 cm. The snow is soft and settles deeply. There is a lot of wind-blown snow and slabs. On wind-exposed sites, the snow is heavily wind-scoured.

The avalanche danger is mostly 3rd degree in the high mountains, lower down and in the eastern Karawanks 2nd degree.

The snowpack is conditionally unstable. There will be little spontaneous slab release, only individual small avalanches from steeper slopes may release. However, an avalanche can be triggered quickly even with minor loading of the snowpack. Steep slopes and areas with wind slab are especially dangerous.



Today and tomorrow will be dry and partly sunny. The snowline will be at elevations from 1200 to 1500 m. The snowpack will settle and metamorphose more quickly, also due to solar influence. Especially on sun-facing slopes and plateaus, it will become wet during the day and refreeze at night, forming a crust. The snow will gradually consolidate. Transformation will be poorer in shady high-mountain locations.

The next snowpack report will be issued on Wednesday, 26.2.2014 in the morning.



The general avalanche danger is 3rd degree on the European five-level scale.



Source: ARSO