Snow causing problems

Whereas downhill skiing slopes and local economies struggled for the first half of this winter with black hills in warm weather, the situation has now truly reserved. Not only have seen plenty of high profile avalanche news from the Central Europe this past week, but Norway is also warning skiers especially on steep slopes on potential avalanches. The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute has issued warnings for most mountainous parts of the country for this week. On Saturday two experienced skiers were killed by an avalanche at Middagstinden on Kvaløya in Troms County.

The roofs of the houses are also at risk as the temperature rises and the weight of the snow increases. At that point, just as may happen on a slope, the combination of snow and ice may fall from the roof with devastating consequences. Yesterday a middle-aged woman was killed instantly in Helsinki as a result of such. Another person was injured in a similar accident. This follows a fatality last year and shows that housing companies weren’t sufficiently spooked by potential liabilities and manslaughter charges to take preventive actions.

As more snowing is predicted for today, the work of those serving at snow removal industry is highlighted. Their work is very seasonal and the pay particularly in manual labour is generally not enough to make a living. It is thus often more profitable to stay at home and mooch on social benefits rather than to sign up for such. When everything is done in haste with machines, the snow is often left in places where it will cause harm for others.

Those who remove snow from the roofs work in hazardous conditions and it is generally recommended to leave such work for professionals. I can attest to the fact that removing snow particularly from a metal roof is completely impossible without proper roping.

The national weather agency websites show that much of Lapland has over 75 cm of snow with Southern Parts of Finland at over 50 cm as well. Southern parts of Sweden have less than that. According to j2ski the deepest snow cover in Norway slopes is currently over 3 metres. Here are the links to the current snow-conditions in Sweden, Norway and Finland.