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On the Characteristics of Heavy Multiple-Day Snowfalls in the Eastern Alps

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Abstract

Based on the daily fresh-snowrecordings of a set of 81 stations of the AustrianHydrographic Service, covering a 19-year period,various aspects of extraordinarily long-lasting severesnowfalls are investigated. Starting from an exactdefinition of periods of Heavy Snowfall Events (HSE),some of the discussed items include the annual andseasonal frequencies of intense snowfall episodes, thelocation and migration paths of the storm centers andthe volume of snow dropped by the individual storms.Another part of the study, designed to visualize thebig variability of snow-related parameters over Alpineterrain, determines for all involved sites maximalobserved and theoretical extreme fresh-snowaccumulations for periods of variable length. Heavythree-day snowfall events are analyzed with specialregard of the resulting avalanche threat.

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  1. Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Vienna, Hohe Warte 38, A-1190, Wien

    Gerald Spreitzhofer

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  1. Gerald Spreitzhofer
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Spreitzhofer, G. On the Characteristics of Heavy Multiple-Day Snowfalls in the Eastern Alps. Natural Hazards 21, 35–53 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008149104912

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