Snow conditions in the mountains 27.3.2013

On Monday and Tuesday it was still snowing, but the precipitation weakened on Tuesday afternoon. The temperature was below zero all the time. A moderate wind from northern directions was blowing and transporting dry snow into drifts.

The temperature was below zero all the time, conditions were completely wintery and still are today. The new snow has hardly transformed, except in the lowlands.

At 2500 m in the Julian Alps there is about 410 cm of snow, at 1500 m up to 270 cm and at 1000 m from 80 to about 100 cm. Elsewhere in our mountains, at 1500 m from 90 to 150 cm, at 1000 m from about 40 to 70 cm.

The snow is mostly soft and light, on wind-exposed sites it is wind-packed down to the old base which partially supports human weight.

There are many drifts and slabs.

The avalanche danger is still mostly 3rd degree in the high mountains, below about 1500 m 2nd degree. From sufficiently steep slopes, individual partially bonded slab avalanches can release. Even with a small additional load you can quickly trigger a wind slab avalanche.

By Friday the freezing level will gradually rise to an altitude of about 1600 m. With somewhat thinner cloudiness and short-term clearings, the snow will transform somewhat faster today and especially in the mid-mountains it will also settle somewhat, in shady locations it will remain mostly dry. With gradual warming, the snow will otherwise start to transform faster, but at the same time slopes with wind slabs will become somewhat more unstable. On Thursday towards evening, precipitation will start to appear. The snow line will remain below 1000 m until Friday morning. By then, up to 10 cm of snow will fall mainly in the Julian Alps and western Karawanks and in the Kamnik Alps.



The new report will be issued on Friday, 29.3.2013 in the morning.



The general avalanche danger is considerable, i.e. 3rd degree on the European five-degree scale.



Source: ARSO