5.03.2014
On Monday and Tuesday it was variable to mostly cloudy. Occasionally there was light snowfall in places, with only a few cm of snow falling. An east to northeast wind blew, drifting snow and forming new drifts mainly on southern and western sides of ridges. The snow line was at altitudes between 1100 and 1400 m.
The snow cover continues to settle and transform. During the day it thins especially in mid-mountains, at night it freezes.
The snow cover mostly reaches sea level altitude of about 700 m.
Snow depth is particularly uneven in the high mountains. The most snow is above 1800 m in the western Julian Alps, up to about 700 cm, elsewhere in the Julians up to about 530 cm, in the western and central Karawanks and Kamnik-Savinja Alps up to about 300 cm. At 1500 m it is up to about 340 cm in the Julians and western Karawanks, elsewhere 100 to 150 cm. In mid-mountains the snow cover is mostly crusted over, lower down frozen through in places. Higher up snow is mostly still soft, only on wind-exposed sites is there wind-formed crust.
There is much wind-drifted snow and slabs.
Avalanche danger is mostly 2nd degree.
The snow cover has already stabilised quite well. Avalanches can be triggered mainly at sites with drifted snow, as snow is drifted onto crust base in places and thus more unstable.
Steep slopes are also more dangerous.
Today and tomorrow mostly cloudy, only today afternoon and part of the night mainly more clear in the western part of our mountains. There on sun-exposed mid-mountain sites snow will thin, freeze at night. In high mountains sun influence much less as temperature below zero throughout. Moderate east to northeast wind will blow, still drifting snow. Snow cover will slowly transform, on surface crust will strengthen due to wind and especially on sunny slopes due to regelation (daytime melting and nighttime freezing).
Next snow cover report will be issued Friday, 7.3.2014 morning.
General avalanche danger is 2nd degree on the European five-level scale.
Source: ARSO