Winter of Terror (1951)

Winter of Terror is a term used to describe the three month period during the winter of 1950-1951 [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/books/review/04williams.html?fta=y Look Out Below - New York Times ] ] when a previously unrecorded number of avalanches took place in the Alps. The series of 649 avalanches killed over 265 persons and caused large amounts of damage to residential and other man-made structures.

Damage and Casualties

Austria suffered most damage and loss of human life with one hundred killed and many villages destroyed. Thousands of economically valuable acres of forest were also damaged during the period.

The Valais canton of Switzerland suffered ninety two human deaths, approximately five hundred cattle deaths and nine hundred man-made structures destroyed. As in Austria, economically important forests were also damaged during the period. [Tufty, B. (1978) "1001 Questions Answered about Earthquakes, Floods, Avalanches and Other Natural Disasters", Courier Dover, p133, ISBN 0486236463]

The Swiss town of Andermatt located in the Adula Alps was hit by six avalanches within a sixty minute period resulting in thirteen human deaths [cite web |title=Force of Nature - Death in the Alps|publisher=BBC Corp.|url=http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/F/force_of_nature/avalanche/index.html
accessdate=2008-03-27|]

Causes

This period is thought to be a 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 1-3 hour period. [Tufty, B. (1978) "1001 Questions Answered about Earthquakes, Floods, Avalanches and Other Natural Disasters", Courier Dover, p133, ISBN 0486236463]

References