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Heavy snowfalls kept emergency services and Carinthian authorities alert over the weekend. Since Sunday alone, the state’s fire departments have been on more than 300 missions. Some mountain roads were still closed on Monday, 2,500 homes had to do without electricity at times. In the Mölltal (district of Spittal an der Drau) several houses were evacuated, where avalanches and landslides and floods occurred repeatedly. Also in Tyrol and East Tyrol, some roads remained closed. After a short break, more snowfall has been announced.
Avalanche commissions conduct reconnaissance flights
Avalanche commissions conducted reconnaissance flights: the armed forces used an Alouette III from the Klagenfurt helicopter base and a Black Hawk helicopter was approaching Carinthia at noon. In addition, two helicopters from the Ministry of the Interior were ready. 100 army soldiers, the pioneers from Villach and the Jäger 26th Battalion from Spittal an der Drau, were on standby. Twelve members of the 26th Jägerbataillon supported the Winklern road maintenance depot in Mölltal. 420 employees of state highway maintenance depots were operating on a large scale over the weekend. Employees and equipment were dispatched from the Lower Carinthia area to Upper Carinthia. The KNG-Kärnten Netz installers also had a lot to do. Especially in Mölltal and Lesach Valley, it was necessary to correct the faults. This was made more difficult by the avalanche hazard that prevailed in many places.
Four helicopters were also used in East Tyrol on reconnaissance flights for avalanche commissions, community operations management, regional geology and the Tinetz. In North Tyrol, an army helicopter carried out reconnaissance flights for the avalanche commissions and the avalanche warning service. “The state helicopter is used to transport dialysis patients to the Lienz district hospital, scouting flights for avalanche commissions and aerial studies for the Tinetz. Two private helicopters are also used for avalanche commissions and the Tinetz. It is still moving a army helicopter from Klagenfurt to Lienz, “explained Lienz district chief Olga Reisner.
The Brennero motorway can be used again
The weekend snowfall still had a heavy impact on Tyrol’s roads on Monday. Numerous sections of the road were still closed. The Brenner Expressway near Sterzing was opened to traffic again Monday morning. the But the B108 between Huben and Matrei in East Tyrol and the Felbertauernstrasse between Matrei and Mittersill were not passable. In Ötztal, the B186 between Zwieselstein and Hochgurgl or between Neudorf and Sölden was closed. In addition, the state road L13 between Gries im Sellrain and Kühtai was closed, and the L16 at Imst between Wenns and Sankt Leonhard was also affected.
The Brenner railway line has also not been launched yet, according to ÖBB, it should remain closed in South Tyrol until Tuesday. In Tyrol, therefore, long-distance international traffic will remain a replacement service for the railway. Local traffic between Innsbruck and Bolzano was also not operational on Monday morning, but work is underway to ensure that the route is released again during noon, an ÖBB spokesperson for the APA said. Rail replacement service continued only to St. Jodok. However, it is advised to postpone unnecessary trips or to know the current situation before leaving.
Record values for snow depth in December
The heavy rains in recent days have caused some damage. In East Tyrol, the highest avalanche warning level 5 was lowered to 4, but this still spells great danger. SECOND.Jörn Goldhausen, a meteorologist at WetterOnline, also reported on larger avalanches. One hit the town of Prägraten in Großvenediger in Tyrol on Saturday night. Four houses and a vehicle were damaged. No one was injured. Prior to this, the Prägraten community operations management had asked several people to leave their homes.
Some ZAMG weather stations in Upper Carinthia and East Tyrol reported new records of 3-day rainfall and snow depth in December. ZAMG climatologist Alexander Orlik reports from 298 millimeters in Lienz in eastern Tyrol: “That is a new record. So far, the highest value here was 259 millimeters in November 1966.” Measurements have been made at Lienz with brief interruptions since 1880. In East Tyrol, there was also a new record at Sillian with 294 millimeters. “This exceeded the value of 225 millimeters in October 2018,” says Orlik. Döllach in Carinthia’s Upper Mölltal also recorded a peak value of 238 millimeters, which exceeded 209 millimeters in November 2019. At St. Jakob in Defereggen, East Tyrol, the new record is 225 millimeters (212 millimeters since August 1966 ).
Kornat in Lesachtal registered the highest value of these three days with exactly 364 millimeters of fresh snow. The record here at 415 millimeters comes from October 2018. By the way, one millimeter of precipitation corresponds to one liter per square meter.
New snow in the southwest on Tuesday
After a short break, it will snow again heavily on Tuesday and Wednesday in south-west Austria. “The next low in Italy will again bring widespread snowfall in the Upper Carinthia and East Tyrol valleys,” he said. Gerhard Hohenwarter from ZAMG in Klagenfurt. “This adds another 50 centimeters of fresh snow, occasionally around 100, for example in the Lesach valley. “As of Thursday, the weather looks like a lasting calm.” Towards the weekend, a low pressure zone is likely to develop over Italy again however, according to the current forecast, too far south to affect Austria. “(Apa, red)
