7.03.2014
On Wednesday and Thursday it was moderately to mostly cloudy.
The freezing level was between 1300 and 1600 m. The snowpack settled and transformed, only in the high mountains above about 2000 m was the transformation slow, especially in gullies the snow remained poorly transformed.
The snowpack mostly reaches sea level altitude of about 800 m, on sun-facing slopes up to about 1000 m. Snow depth is especially in the high mountains very uneven. The most snow is above 1800 m in the western Julian Alps, where it reaches about 700 cm, elsewhere in the Julians up to about 520 cm, in the western and central Karawanks and Kamnik-Savinja Alps up to about 280 cm. At 1500 m it is in the Julians and western Karawanks up to about 330 cm, elsewhere from 100 to 140 cm.
In the mid-mountains the snowpack is mostly covered with crust, lower it is in places also frozen through. Higher up the snow is mostly still soft, only on wind-exposed locations there is crust formed by wind. There is a lot of wind-drifted snow and slabs.
Avalanche danger is mostly 2nd degree.
The snowpack is mostly moderately stable. You can trigger an avalanche mainly at places with wind-drifted snow, as in places the snow is drifted onto crust base and therefore less stable.
Also steeper slopes and shady locations in the high mountains are more dangerous.
Dry weather will continue. There will be plenty of sun, which will accelerate transformation, especially on sun-facing slopes and plateaus. Snow will there during the day become wet, at night freeze and surface crust will strengthen. Above about 2000 m and in gullies the snow will transform and stabilise more slowly. Light to moderate northeasterly wind will blow, which in places in the high mountains will still transport snow, but no major new drifts mostly.
The next report on snowpack conditions will be issued on Monday, 10.3.2014 in the morning.
General avalanche danger is 2nd degree on the European five-level scale.
Source: ARSO