25 years ago there was 8.16 meters of snow on the Säntis
Published: Saturday, Apr 20th 2024, 09:50
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25 years ago, there was more snow on the Säntis than ever before in Switzerland: in spring 1999, the snow piled up to 8.16 meters on the eastern Swiss mountain at 2226 meters above sea level. At present, it is still 5.98 meters.
A lot of snow fell in January and February in particular, SRF Meteo wrote in a press release. This was associated with repeated avalanches. The most devastating occurred in February in Galtür, Austria, when a huge avalanche buried several houses and killed 31 people.
In Switzerland, too, numerous people died in avalanches at the beginning of 1999. In January and February, around 1200 damaging avalanches fell in the Alps within four weeks. This resulted in 36 deaths. The worst avalanche occurred in the Val d'Hérens in Valais: two avalanches buried ten vacation homes in the village of Evolène. Twelve people lost their lives.
However, as is usually the case, the highest amounts of snow were only measured in spring: On April 20, 1999, the snow layer on a snow field below the Säntis summit reached the previous record of 8.16 meters. It was only two days later that the snow slowly collapsed.
This winter, too, the snow depths on the Säntis have been consistently above average since the beginning of November. This year's season record is 6.10 meters, measured on 16 March. However, based on the weather forecasts, the amount of snow could well increase again and even reach a new season record, wrote SRF Meteo.
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