Ecologist Fedorkina predicts an increase in the number of avalanches in winter in the mountains of Russia

The temperature instability expected in the coming winter may become a serious threat to the mountainous regions of Russia. Sudden temperature changes and frequent thaws increase the risk of avalanches, one of the most dangerous natural phenomena in the cold season. Irina Fedorkina, Deputy Head of the Department of Ecology at MTUCI, told Izvestia about where this element can manifest itself and what to be afraid of.

According to the expert, the Khibiny Mountains, the North Caucasus, the Urals, the Kuznetsk Alatau, the Altai, the Sayans, the mountains of the Baikal Region, the Sikhote-Alin, the mountains of Kamchatka, the northeast of Siberia, and the Birrang are considered avalanche-prone. The expert clarifies that snowfall is possible on slopes with a steepness of more than 15 degrees and with a snow cover thickness of more than 30 centimeters. These are the conditions that are created during periods of dramatic warming after snowfalls — when the lower layers of snow begin to melt and lose their stability.

"Significant differences in the terrain and climatic conditions in Russia lead to the fact that the snowfall regime here is more diverse than in any other country in the world. The areas where avalanches occur regularly occupy more than 18% of the country's territory. About 5% more of the area are potentially dangerous zones where the terrain is favorable for avalanche formation and in case of destruction of woody vegetation — natural protection from avalanches or with an increase in the amount of solid precipitation — it will be possible for snow masses to collapse from the slopes," said Fedorkina.

She stressed that in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus, Altai, and the Kamchatka Peninsula, avalanches form mainly in circuses, craters, and complex denudation craters with rocky surfaces. The area of such avalanche collections can reach 250-300 hectares, and their relative height is 1-1.5 thousand m. The density of the avalanche network here is 8-15 avalanche collections per 1 linear kilometer of the valley floor.

However, denudation craters and erosive incisions prevail in the middle and low mountains.

"In Khibiny, about 80% of all avalanche collections are denudation craters with an average area of 6-8 hectares. On the Udokan ridge, 45% of avalanche collections are erosion cuts and denudation craters with an area of 0.5–50 hectares, and 25% are multi—chamber denudation craters with an area of up to 250-300 hectares," the expert concluded.

Read more about what cataclysms await Russians in winter and what anomalies may become the norm in the Izvestia article.

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