Cable car on Sněžko.
Pec pod Sněžkou (Trutnovsko) – The wind on Sněžkou reached the hurricane level today. In gusts, the wind on Sněžka had a speed of 118.8 kilometers per hour in the morning, according to data from the Anežka post office measuring station at the top of Sněžka. The hurricane limit is 117.7 kilometers per hour. The wind stopped the upper section of the cable car to Sněžka from Růžová hora, the cable car can be in operation up to a wind speed of 60 km/h, the lift operators stated on the website. The lower section, Pec pod Sněžkou – Růžová hora was in operation. In the Krkonoše Mountains, the second level of avalanche danger from a five-part scale applies.
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At the nearby Luční bouda ridge at an altitude of 1,415 meters, it was six below zero in the morning, fog, about 90 centimeters of snow and the wind reached a speed of about 25 km/h, the Krkonoše Mountain Service reported on its website.
Hurricane-force winds were recorded on Sněžka in January and February this year. According to the KRNAP Administration, the snow peak with a height of 1,603 meters has no analogues in the Central European area. It has the shape of a three-sided pyramid that juts out into the atmosphere above the Krkonoše ridges. Therefore, despite the low altitude, the climate is arctic and alpine, and often does not even reflect the overall nature of the weather in the Krkonoše Mountains.
There is 100 to 150 centimeters of snow on the ridges of the Krkonoše Mountains, more of it is deposited on the leeward slopes of the northeast to southwest directions in the breakaway zones and in troughs.
“Above the forest zone on the north-western and south-western slopes, due to the influence of the wind, snow slabs have formed, slab avalanches from blown snow can occur here. Angular crystals form in the snow cover, especially on the northern and shady slopes. Avalanches from unstable layers can occur here old snow or a combination of old and new snow. Stability tests show moderate stability,” said Robert Dlouhý from the Krkonoše mountain service on the website today.
Avalanche release is mainly possible with a large additional load, especially on steep slopes usually indicated in the avalanche forecast. The possibility of spontaneous release of very large avalanches is not assumed. “Only medium-sized avalanches can be expected, which usually stop still on the slope. The trend of avalanche danger is persistent,” said Dlouhý.
Avalanche locations in the Giant Mountains are Kotelní jámy, the Bílý Labe valley from Bouda u Bílý Labe , Goat's backs and Labský, Obří, Dlouhý and Modrý důl. Every year, several dozen avalanches occur in the mountains, but they do not affect inhabited places, ski slopes or access roads.
The first level of avalanche danger in the Czech part of the mountains was announced for the first time this winter season last December 12. The avalanche danger in the Krkonoše Mountains rose to the second level on December 13 and fell to the first level again on December 25. The mountain service revoked the lowest level of avalanche danger this year on January 2. The avalanche danger level in the Krkonoše mountains rose again on Saturday, January 14, to the second level on January 21, and to the third level in the Czech part of the mountains on February 1. The avalanche danger in the Krkonoše fell from the third to the second level on a five-point scale on February 9.
