An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain)
Between the late Little Ice Age (LIA) cold stage and the early 20th century warmer scenario, a transitional regime characterized by an unstable climatic pattern generated a series of climate extremes affecting mid-latitude mountainous areas, as the Asturian Massif. There, the 1888 snow avalanche cyc...
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Universidad de La Rioja
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ftunivriojaojs:oai:ojs.www.unirioja.es:article/3386 2024-10-13T14:09:34+00:00 An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) Un evento extremo entre la Pequeña Edad de Hielo y el siglo XX: el ciclo de avalanchas de 1888 en el Macizo Asturiano (norte de España) García-Hernández, C. Ruiz-Fernández, J. Sánchez-Posada, C. Pereira, S. Oliva, M. 2018-02-20 application/pdf https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386 https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.3386 eng eng Universidad de La Rioja https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386/3005 https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386 doi:10.18172/cig.3386 Derechos de autor 2018 C. García-Hernández, J. Ruiz-Fernández, C. Sánchez-Posada, S. Pereira, M. Oliva Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica; Vol. 44 No. 1 (2018); 187-212 Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica; Vol. 44 Núm. 1 (2018); 187-212 1697-9540 0211-6820 10.18172/cig.vol44iss1 avalanche cycle climate extremes great blizzard Little Ice Age orographic precipitation Cantabrian Mountains episodio de avalanchas extremos climáticos gran nevada Pequeña Edad de Hielo precipitación orográfica Cordillera Cantábrica info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2018 ftunivriojaojs https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.338610.18172/cig.vol44iss1 2024-09-18T23:40:51Z Between the late Little Ice Age (LIA) cold stage and the early 20th century warmer scenario, a transitional regime characterized by an unstable climatic pattern generated a series of climate extremes affecting mid-latitude mountainous areas, as the Asturian Massif. There, the 1888 snow avalanche cycle appears as the most significant event, standing out among the rest of avalanche cycles recorded in this area during the 1800-2015 period both in terms of the number of damaging avalanches and damages caused by them. Among the factors that explain this event stands out the orographic precipitation phenomenon; the interaction of a cold and wet air mass originating from the North Atlantic with the relief of the Massif, which led to extraordinary snow thicknesses (>2 m) at very low altitudes (500 m a.s.l.), especially in the north-facing, Asturian versant of the Cantabrian Mountains. This allowed the triggering of avalanches in slopes gentler and in lower altitudes than usual, covering longer distances; consequently, avalanches reached more easily the settlements, generally placed at the bottom of the valley or in middle slope positions. The greater impact on the settlements, which suffered 84% of the damages, was the cause of this episode’s high socioeconomic impact (29 people dead, 34 injured, 123 heads of cattle dead, 124 buildings destroyed). These events occurred at a time when the mountain villages were highly populated and subjected to intense exploitation, coinciding with the development of new communication infrastructures in the upper parts of the Massif. Therefore, the 1888 episode constitutes a good example of both the impact of hydrometeorological events in mountain environments under high demographic pressure, and of climate extremes involved in a transition period from cold to warmer weather conditions. Entre la Pequeña Edad de Hielo (PEH) y las primeras décadas del siglo XX, un régimen de transición climática caracterizado por su inestabilidad generó una serie de eventos extremos que afectaron a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Portal de Revistas de la Universidad de La Rioja Hielo ENVELOPE(-58.133,-58.133,-62.083,-62.083) Pequeña ENVELOPE(-61.455,-61.455,-64.012,-64.012) Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 44 1 187 212 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Portal de Revistas de la Universidad de La Rioja |
op_collection_id |
ftunivriojaojs |
language |
English |
topic |
avalanche cycle climate extremes great blizzard Little Ice Age orographic precipitation Cantabrian Mountains episodio de avalanchas extremos climáticos gran nevada Pequeña Edad de Hielo precipitación orográfica Cordillera Cantábrica |
spellingShingle |
avalanche cycle climate extremes great blizzard Little Ice Age orographic precipitation Cantabrian Mountains episodio de avalanchas extremos climáticos gran nevada Pequeña Edad de Hielo precipitación orográfica Cordillera Cantábrica García-Hernández, C. Ruiz-Fernández, J. Sánchez-Posada, C. Pereira, S. Oliva, M. An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
topic_facet |
avalanche cycle climate extremes great blizzard Little Ice Age orographic precipitation Cantabrian Mountains episodio de avalanchas extremos climáticos gran nevada Pequeña Edad de Hielo precipitación orográfica Cordillera Cantábrica |
description |
Between the late Little Ice Age (LIA) cold stage and the early 20th century warmer scenario, a transitional regime characterized by an unstable climatic pattern generated a series of climate extremes affecting mid-latitude mountainous areas, as the Asturian Massif. There, the 1888 snow avalanche cycle appears as the most significant event, standing out among the rest of avalanche cycles recorded in this area during the 1800-2015 period both in terms of the number of damaging avalanches and damages caused by them. Among the factors that explain this event stands out the orographic precipitation phenomenon; the interaction of a cold and wet air mass originating from the North Atlantic with the relief of the Massif, which led to extraordinary snow thicknesses (>2 m) at very low altitudes (500 m a.s.l.), especially in the north-facing, Asturian versant of the Cantabrian Mountains. This allowed the triggering of avalanches in slopes gentler and in lower altitudes than usual, covering longer distances; consequently, avalanches reached more easily the settlements, generally placed at the bottom of the valley or in middle slope positions. The greater impact on the settlements, which suffered 84% of the damages, was the cause of this episode’s high socioeconomic impact (29 people dead, 34 injured, 123 heads of cattle dead, 124 buildings destroyed). These events occurred at a time when the mountain villages were highly populated and subjected to intense exploitation, coinciding with the development of new communication infrastructures in the upper parts of the Massif. Therefore, the 1888 episode constitutes a good example of both the impact of hydrometeorological events in mountain environments under high demographic pressure, and of climate extremes involved in a transition period from cold to warmer weather conditions. Entre la Pequeña Edad de Hielo (PEH) y las primeras décadas del siglo XX, un régimen de transición climática caracterizado por su inestabilidad generó una serie de eventos extremos que afectaron a ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
García-Hernández, C. Ruiz-Fernández, J. Sánchez-Posada, C. Pereira, S. Oliva, M. |
author_facet |
García-Hernández, C. Ruiz-Fernández, J. Sánchez-Posada, C. Pereira, S. Oliva, M. |
author_sort |
García-Hernández, C. |
title |
An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
title_short |
An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
title_full |
An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
title_fullStr |
An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
title_full_unstemmed |
An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain) |
title_sort |
extreme event between the little ice age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the asturian massif (northern spain) |
publisher |
Universidad de La Rioja |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386 https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.3386 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.133,-58.133,-62.083,-62.083) ENVELOPE(-61.455,-61.455,-64.012,-64.012) |
geographic |
Hielo Pequeña |
geographic_facet |
Hielo Pequeña |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica; Vol. 44 No. 1 (2018); 187-212 Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica; Vol. 44 Núm. 1 (2018); 187-212 1697-9540 0211-6820 10.18172/cig.vol44iss1 |
op_relation |
https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386/3005 https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/cig/article/view/3386 doi:10.18172/cig.3386 |
op_rights |
Derechos de autor 2018 C. García-Hernández, J. Ruiz-Fernández, C. Sánchez-Posada, S. Pereira, M. Oliva |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.338610.18172/cig.vol44iss1 |
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Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica |
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44 |
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