Winter of Terror

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Clearing the road from Zernez to Brail

Ruined hamlet Lü Daint in the Val Müstair

The Winter of Terror was a three-month period during the winter of 1950–1951 during which an unprecedented number of avalanches took place in the Alps along the Austria–Switzerland border.^[1][2] The series of 649 avalanches killed over 265 people and caused large amounts of damage to residential and other human-made structures.^{[3][unreliable source?]}

Damage and casualties[]

Austria suffered the most damage and loss of human life with 135 killed and many villages destroyed.^[4] Thousands of acres of economically valuable forest in both Austria and Switzerland, were also damaged during the period.^[2]

The Valais canton of Switzerland suffered 92 human deaths, approximately 500 cattle deaths, and destruction of 900 human-made structures. As in Austria, economically important forests were also damaged during the period.^[5]

The Swiss town of Andermatt in the Adula Alps was hit by six avalanches within a 60-minute period, resulting in 13 deaths.^[6]

Causes[]

The period is thought to have been the result of atypical weather conditions in the Alps: high precipitation due to the meeting of an Atlantic warm front with a polar cold front resulted in 3–4.5 metres of snow being deposited in a two- to three-day period. More than 600 buildings were destroyed and over 40,000 people were buried under snow.^[5]

References[]