Snow conditions 5.12.2014

Cloudy and foggy weather prevailed with occasional precipitation. On Monday and into Tuesday night, especially in the high mountains of the Julian Alps and Karawanks, up to about 25 cm of snow fell; on Wednesday and into Thursday night, 15 to 25 cm, with the snow line then in the Julian Alps and western Karawanks below 1200 m; snow fell to some valleys, elsewhere the snow line was quite high, mostly above about 1800 m. Rime ice also formed at elevations between 700 and 1500 m. Yesterday afternoon precipitation gradually ceased. The snow line was most of the time around 2100 m elevation, currently around 2000 m.

At 2500 m elevation in the Julian Alps there is up to about 130 cm of snow, at 1500 m about 30 cm. Snow also lies in the Upper Sava Valley, where it reaches 10 cm. We have no data from elsewhere. With lower elevation the snowpack depth decreases rapidly. Elsewhere in our mountains at 1500 m elevation it is mostly bare.

The snowpack is relatively soft, only in places covered with a thin crust formed by wind.

Avalanche danger in the high Julian Alps, above about 2000 m elevation, is 2nd degree, elsewhere 1st degree.

In the high Julian Alps on sufficiently steep slopes with greater snowpack loading you can trigger a new snow slab avalanche. Elsewhere there is too little snow for avalanching, and no older slab base.



Today it will be cloudy and mostly dry. Foggy in places, higher summits at least this morning above the low cloud layer. Tomorrow precipitation will resume from the east.

Snow line around 500 m elevation. More precipitation in the eastern part of our mountains, less in the Julian Alps and hills of Notranjska and northern Primorska. Until Sunday evening 5 to 10 cm of snow may fall, perhaps a little more on Pohorje and eastern Karawanks. Avalanche conditions will not change much, only the snowpack will extend to lower elevations.

Next report published on Monday, 8.12.2014.



General avalanche danger is 2nd degree on the European five-degree scale.



Source: ARSO