Citation

Spreitzhofer G. Nat. Hazards 2000; 21(1): 35-53.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

Based on the daily fresh-snow recordings of a set of 81 stations of the Austrian Hydrographic Service, covering a 19-year period, various aspects of extraordinarily long-lasting severe snowfalls are investigated. Starting from an exact definition of periods of Heavy Snowfall Events (HSE), some of the discussed items include the annual and seasonal frequencies of intense snowfall episodes, the location and migration paths of the storm centers and the volume of snow dropped by the individual storms. Another part of the study, designed to visualize the big variability of snow-related parameters over Alpine terrain, determines for all involved sites maximal observed and theoretical extreme fresh-snow accumulations for periods of variable length. Heavy three-day snowfall events are analyzed with special regard of the resulting avalanche threat.

Language: en