EN
This study concerns the observations and measurements of snow-cover carried out during the period from 1970 to 1997 in the open area and in the fir-spruce forest at the Station of Phytoclimatic Research at Kopciowa in the Beskid Sądecki Mountains. It was found that the average duration of a stable and compact snow-cover is 118 days in the open area and 126 days in the forest. On the average snow appears on 13 November in the open area, and 7 days later in the forest. It disappears on 23 March from the open area, and nearly 3 weeks later from the forest. In the first half of the winter season the average depth of snow-cover in the forest is only a little smaller than in the open area, and it is characterized by a slightly greater variation. While from mid-February the snow-cover in the open area is thinner, and is much more variable than in the forest.