Avalanche winter 1951

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Avalanche winter 1951, January event
Clearance of the road from Zernez to Brail
Clearance of the road from Zernez to Brail
weather condition Nordstau ( heavy snow event )
Data
Climax 9-22 January
Snowfall > 15 cm / h
Amount of fresh snow 2.5 m; ≈ 400% LJM ( Swiss Central Alps , esp. Prättigau , 16th-22.1. )
consequences
affected areas Central and Eastern Alps ( Switzerland , Liechtenstein , Austria , Italy )
Victim 210 dead
Avalanche winter 1951, February event
weather condition Vb-Lage ( heavy snow event )
Data
Climax 8-15 February
Precipitation ≈ 600% LJM Feb. (Valle Onsernone, to 11.2. )
Amount of fresh snow 4 m ( Maggia , Bedrettotal , to 11.2. )
Annuality (total) ≈ 100 ( Valle Onsernone / 1864)
consequences
affected areas Southern side of the Alps (Switzerland, Italy)
Victim 30 dead
Landmark of avalanche control and research in the Eastern Alps

The avalanche winter of 1951 included two weather events during which large amounts of snow fell in the Alpine region. As a result, numerous avalanches fell spontaneously within a short time; many of them in unusual places or so thick that there was great damage to property and many deaths.

In January and February, 265 people died in the Alpine region from the direct consequences of the avalanches triggered by the weather events. The January event was a pronounced northern damming situation , which affected the entire Central and Eastern Alps (Switzerland, Austria, Italy), the February event a Vb weather situation , which affected the southern side of the Alps (Switzerland, Italy) .

Meteorological course

In November, an above-average amount of snow fell in the Alpine region, which remained until the end of the year. At the beginning of January there was a lot of fresh snow. In the middle of the month, more than 200 percent of the usual amount of fresh snow had fallen southeast of the Zermatt - Simplon - Furka - Erstfeld - Glarus - Sargans line . In central Grisons , the Engadine , the southern valleys of the Grisons and Ticino, even 300 to 400 percent.

January

On the night of January 15-16, 1951, an active northwest current began. This brought almost uninterrupted snowfall to the north side of the Alps for five days. At times, up to 15 centimeters of fresh snow fell per hour. Overall, the amount of fresh snow between January 16 and 22 was between one and more than two and a half meters of fresh snow. Above all in the Glarus Alps fell over two meters, and in the upper Prättigau even over two and a half meters. As a result, there were many avalanches. After January 22nd the snow solidified very quickly and the danger was averted for the time being.

  • Destroyed hamlet of Lü Daint, Val Müstair

  • Destroyed house in Tschierv

  • Snow clearing in front of the Il Fuorn hotel on the Ofenpassstrasse

  • Andermatt barracks: memorial service on January 21, 1951

February

On the southern side of the Alps, however, another event was looming. On February 4, 1951, a southerly wind set in, which brought foehn on the north side of the Alps and in Ticino in the higher elevations within two days a good meter of fresh snow. The weather then calmed down briefly. But on February 8th, a new stagnation formed with rainfall lasting until February 11th on the southern side of the Alps. With these two events more than 400 percent of the usual February precipitation was measured, in the Valle Onsernone even 600 percent. This was the highest measured rainfall since 1864. In the Maggia valleys and in the Val Bedretto more than four meters of fresh snow fell, even the areas north of the main Alpine ridge received more than two meters of fresh snow. As a result, there were again many avalanches, but this time the large damaging avalanches were confined to a smaller area than in January, when almost the entire Alpine region was affected.

Avalanche victims in Italy

On the Italian side of the Brenner Pass , 18 people died in avalanches in January and 7 people in the Livigno Valley . In February , 14 people died in avalanches in Italy , in Val Formazza , in the upper Val San Giacomo and in South Tyrol .

Avalanche victims in Austria

In Austria , mainly in the federal states of Tyrol , Carinthia and Salzburg , 135 people died during this period. In Austria more than 200 buildings were destroyed or damaged and 350,000 m³ of forest was affected.

Avalanche victims in Switzerland

From January 19 to 22, 1951, over 1,000 harmful avalanches occurred in the Swiss Alpine region, killing 75 people. Between February 11 and 15, 1951, almost 300 harmful avalanches occurred in Switzerland, in which 16 people died. Over 2,000 hectares of forest area were affected by avalanches, with a damaged wood volume of around 175,000 m³.

Chronology and analysis of the individual avalanches

The following list contains only significant harmful avalanches (currently only Switzerland due to sources) .

January

local community Place / local name Date / time Buried dead Damage Remarks
Andermatt Geis Valley January 20 1:45 pm 10 9 2 houses, 1 hotel, 1 department store, 4 stables, street
Andermatt Kirchberg January 20, 6:50 pm 5 2 Military barracks (15 buildings + material), road, railway line
Andermatt Oberalpsee January 20th oZ 2 2 1 hotel, 3 outbuildings, street, railway line
Blatten (Lötschen) Ice January 20, 14 approx. 7th 6th 2 houses, 27 stables, 8 goats, 38.2 hectares of forest, 1,650 m³ of wood, telephone and power lines, road Avalanche in the middle of the village
Davos Monstein station January 20th oZ 6th 2 Station building, railway line, street
Davos Emperors, Dischma January 21, 5:00 p.m. 6th 3 2 houses, 1 outbuilding, 1.5 hectares of forest, 45 m³ wood, road
Diesbach Orenberg January 20, 5:35 am 2 2 3 houses, 7 stables, 11 cows, 2 goats, 1.5 hectares of forest, 200 m³ of wood, telephone and power lines
Monastery Tallawine January 20, 8:00 p.m. 6th 2 1 house, 16 stables, 3.1 hectares of forest, 1040 m³ wood, street
Lü Muntet January 21, 00:30 3 3 7 houses, 8 stables, school house, church, 1 horse, 1 cow, 1 pig, 4 goats, 0.95 hectares of forest, 68 m³ of wood, telephone and power lines, street
Safien Neukirch January 20, 11:30 pm 6th 5 1 house, 3 stables, poultry, 1.7 hectares of forest, 662 m³ wood, road
St. Antönien Meierhof hamlet January 20, 22 approx. 10 1 42 buildings, including 9 residential houses, 50 cattle Biggest damage to buildings from an avalanche in Switzerland
Vals Alpbüel January 20 9:59 pm 30th 19th 11 houses, 12 stables, 12 cattle, 13 goats, street
Zernez Val da Barcil January 19 10:30 1 1 Roadman for the Ofenpass
Zernez Val da Barcil January 19 3:30 pm 5 5 Rescue workers hit by secondary avalanche
Zernez Val da Barcil January 19, 10:30 pm 2 1 Rescue workers caught by 2nd secondary avalanche
Zuoz Albanas January 20, 4:10 pm 11 5 18 houses, 14 other buildings, 13 cattle and poultry, 1.26 hectares of forest, 35 m³ of wood, telephone and power lines, railway line The avalanche was artificially triggered with a mortar

February

Around 100 avalanches damaged or destroyed 350 buildings. The remaining 200 avalanches caused damage in the forest. In Switzerland around 560 hectares of forest were affected, which was destroyed in the process, the damage is 35,000 m³ of wood.

local community Place / local name Date / time Buried dead Damage Remarks
Airolo Vallascia February 12 00:45 15th 10 18 houses, 11 stables, 1 sawmill, 10 cows, 164 chickens, 7 bee colonies, 10 hectares of forest, 400 m³ of wood, road with a wooden bridge
Frasco M. Pampinedo February 11th 9:30 pm 14th 5 10 houses, 14 stables, 8 barns, 20 sheep, 1 pig, 33 chickens, 5 hectares of forest, 50 m³ of wood, telephone and power line, street
Lavertezzo Val Pinchiascia February 11 oZ - - 10 houses, 11 stables, 20 hectares of forest, 720 m³ wood, street The settlement was evacuated in time
Anzonico Pizzo Erra February 13, 5:23 am - - 4 stables, 15 hectares of forest, 2500 m³ wood, road, Gotthard railway line It took eight and a half days before the railway line could be used again

Effects and processing

In Switzerland, 20 of the 1,500 harmful avalanches originated in areas with avalanche barriers . The effectiveness and benefits of these structures were thus impressively demonstrated. This resulted in a massive expansion of these structures. After that, around 10 kilometers of structures were built annually (between 1951 and 1984 an order volume of around 1.6 billion Swiss francs). Subsequently, the hazard map geography was promoted, especially in this area, so that the barriers could be set in the right places.

On the Stillberg in Dischmatal (near Davos), the Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) together with the Forest Research Institute (EAFV) created an extensive research area for reforestation.

At that time there were no helicopters in Switzerland. The Swiss Air Force had three Ju 52s ; these flew relief missions.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Avalanche Winter 1951  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Hans Haid: Myth Avalanche. A cultural story. Studies Verlag, Innsbruck 2007. ISBN 978-3-7065-4493-1 .
  2. ↑ SLF Book Avalanche Winter 1999, table on page 123
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Lit. Pfister: The day after. Table p. 156
  4. ^ Pfister: The day after , p. 158
  5. ↑ The disaster on Sebastian night. The Walser settlements in the Surselva suffered particularly from the avalanches of 1951 . In: Southeastern Switzerland . January 20, 2002, Avalanche Winter 1951, p. 3 ( jfp.ch [PDF]).
  6. ↑ wrd.ch: (page 4 f.) , Www.avia-zh.ch , www.recherche.bar.admin.ch