The natural disaster

The natural disaster

In the winter of 1950-1951, a previously unrecorded number of avalanches took place. Known as the Winter of Terror, it occurred over a three month period. Over 40 000 people were buried in snow in the 649 avalanches. Killing over 265 people, this was the deadliest series of avalanches in recorded history. An astonishing 1489 buildings were destroyed as well!

The cause of this disaster was once a mystery, but scientists have discovered the answer to the event’s cause. They believe that some atypical weather conditions are to be blamed. An Atlantic warm front collided with a Polar cold front to create an extreme amount of precipitation. The precipitation was believed to have reached 3.5-5 meters of snow, and an unrecorded amount of rain. This all happened in 1-3 hours. The resulting weight increase was too much to handle.

The damage of this occurrence was very widespread, but took place mostly in Austria and Switzerland. The brunt of the damage was taken by Austria. They experienced one hundred deaths, and the loss of many villages. Also, thousands of acres of economically valuable forest were lost. The Valais Canton of Switzerland had a death toll of almost the same magnitude. Along with their 92 human deaths, they suffered the loss of over 500 cattle. Also in Switzerland, Andermatt, a small village, was hit by six avalanches during a one hour period. This eventuality resulted in 13 deaths. In addition to the happenings above, there were also a number of people that were never found, and this approximates the death count a little.

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