Long-Term Dynamics of Snow Cover in the Elbrus Region

Introduction. The snow accumulation regime is an important parameter in climate models, in assessing soil moisture reserves, in calculating the level of runoff, flood forecasting, and also for studying atmospheric pollution. In connection with global warming observed in recent decades, there are noticeable changes in climatic characteristics that affect the regime of snow accumulation in the mountains.
Materials and research methods. To analyze and evaluate long-term changes in snow cover height, we used data from observations of precipitation and snow cover (from 1951 to 2022) at the Terskol meteorological station closest to the Elbrus resort, located at the altitude of 2100 m above the sea level. The materials of the study were long-term observations of the amount of precipitation in the cold season and the height of the snow cover at the Terskol meteorological station. Using the methods of statistical analysis, according to long-term data on snow depth for the cold period of the year, the mean and the standard deviation were calculated. Linear trends were obtained, the rate of change of the meteorological parameter (snow depth), anomalies were revealed relative to the average value for 1961 ÷ 1990 for each of the studied series.
Research results and their discussion. The results of the analysis are the regularities of the temporal course of snow cover height at the Terskol meteorological station from 1951 to 2022. It was found that the value of the average snow depth in the full time series was 46 cm, the maximum value was 82 cm, the minimum – 16 cm, the average deviation was 15,65 cm. The time series of snow cover height is characterized by a negative trend expressed as a linear relationship. The values of anomalies of snow height values in different years are calculated.
Conclusions. It is shown that the period from 1951 to 2022, the snow accumulation regime was characterized by an annual decrease in the average annual snow cover height by 0,1 cm per year. Snow height anomalies were obtained in different years.

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