Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges
One of the main questions after the fatal avalanche in Longyearbyen in December 2015, where two persons perished and eleven houses were destroyed, was whether an active avalanche warning system would have identified the upcoming danger. At the time of the catastrophe, no avalanche warning was in ope...
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ftngi:oai:ngi.brage.unit.no:11250/3083287 2023-10-09T21:53:21+02:00 Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges Jaedicke, Christian Hestnes, Erik Bakkehøi, Steinar Mørk, Torgeir Brattlien, Kjetil 2016 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3083287 https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/item/2295 eng eng Montana State University Library The International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW) Proceedings; https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3083287 https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/item/2295 4 Avalanche-RnD Snøskred-FoU Chapter 2016 ftngi 2023-09-20T22:48:33Z One of the main questions after the fatal avalanche in Longyearbyen in December 2015, where two persons perished and eleven houses were destroyed, was whether an active avalanche warning system would have identified the upcoming danger. At the time of the catastrophe, no avalanche warning was in operation. Observation routines established in the early 90ties were discontinued. The forecasted and observed weather is compared with 42 years of meteorological data from Longyearbyen airport. Similar weather conditions are identified and corresponding records of avalanche events clearly states that alarm bells should have sounded. The analysis showed that heavy snowstorms usually occur with westerly winds, while avalanches on the hillside leading to the fatal avalanche are associated with winds from Southeast. Minor precipitation and critical wind causes minor avalanches almost annually, while the fatal event in 2015 occurred due to a rare combination of intense precipitation and wind from Southeast. After the fatal avalanche on Saturday morning, larger parts of the settlements below west facing mountain sides were evacuated. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute managed to establish a fully manned avalanche warning service within Tuesday evening. A month later replaced by regional forecasts. The lessons learned from this work will be helpful in future local avalanche warning for settlements. Article in Journal/Newspaper Longyearbyen Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) Digital Archive Longyearbyen |
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Open Polar |
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Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) Digital Archive |
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language |
English |
topic |
Avalanche-RnD Snøskred-FoU |
spellingShingle |
Avalanche-RnD Snøskred-FoU Jaedicke, Christian Hestnes, Erik Bakkehøi, Steinar Mørk, Torgeir Brattlien, Kjetil Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
topic_facet |
Avalanche-RnD Snøskred-FoU |
description |
One of the main questions after the fatal avalanche in Longyearbyen in December 2015, where two persons perished and eleven houses were destroyed, was whether an active avalanche warning system would have identified the upcoming danger. At the time of the catastrophe, no avalanche warning was in operation. Observation routines established in the early 90ties were discontinued. The forecasted and observed weather is compared with 42 years of meteorological data from Longyearbyen airport. Similar weather conditions are identified and corresponding records of avalanche events clearly states that alarm bells should have sounded. The analysis showed that heavy snowstorms usually occur with westerly winds, while avalanches on the hillside leading to the fatal avalanche are associated with winds from Southeast. Minor precipitation and critical wind causes minor avalanches almost annually, while the fatal event in 2015 occurred due to a rare combination of intense precipitation and wind from Southeast. After the fatal avalanche on Saturday morning, larger parts of the settlements below west facing mountain sides were evacuated. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute managed to establish a fully manned avalanche warning service within Tuesday evening. A month later replaced by regional forecasts. The lessons learned from this work will be helpful in future local avalanche warning for settlements. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jaedicke, Christian Hestnes, Erik Bakkehøi, Steinar Mørk, Torgeir Brattlien, Kjetil |
author_facet |
Jaedicke, Christian Hestnes, Erik Bakkehøi, Steinar Mørk, Torgeir Brattlien, Kjetil |
author_sort |
Jaedicke, Christian |
title |
Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
title_short |
Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
title_full |
Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
title_fullStr |
Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
title_full_unstemmed |
Forecasting the fatal Longyearbyen avalanche. Possibilities and challenges |
title_sort |
forecasting the fatal longyearbyen avalanche. possibilities and challenges |
publisher |
Montana State University Library |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3083287 https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/item/2295 |
geographic |
Longyearbyen |
geographic_facet |
Longyearbyen |
genre |
Longyearbyen |
genre_facet |
Longyearbyen |
op_source |
4 |
op_relation |
The International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW) Proceedings; https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3083287 https://arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/item/2295 |
_version_ |
1779316606156931072 |