Dinaric Alps Northern Velebit Mountain Range Seen from Zavižan Mountain Hut and International Weather Station at 1592m a.s.l.; Nacionalni Park Sjeverni Velebit, Primorsko-Goranska Županija i Ličko-Senjska Županija; Hrvatska
01-May-2025
Veliki Zavižan (1676m a.s.l., see notes) is the name of the mountain in the center of the photo, among the numerous peaks that make up this large chain/plateau it is one of the highest.
All the peaks in this view, including the first on the right, the very panoramic Velika Zavižanska Kosa (1622m) are higher than 1600m a.s.l. but appear more like hills due to the fact that the Northern Velebit chain is actually a compact massif (plateau type), over a dozen kilometers wide that maintains a height almost everywhere not less than 1500m, so the prominence of its peaks is minimal, while the dry valleys (not fluvial due to the porous calcareous soil) are not very marked.
The Zavižan weather station, next to the homonymous refuge, is located at the foot of the Vučjak peak (1645m a.s.l.), at 1592m a.s.l. and has been active since the post Second World War period.
Despite being a short distance from the Mediterranean, directly above the Kvarner islands and visible from everywhere, it has often had temperatures well below -20°C and it must be considered that the area is on a slope, not subject to local thermal inversions.
All the lowest temperatures recorded by the station, starting from -29°C on the 10th of freezing February 1956, were accompanied by continuous and furious Bora/Bura winds, with rising saturated currents, from Eastern Europe, originating in Siberia, from the Danubian valleys, therefore with 100% relative humidity, low freezing clouds, heavy hard rime and "stau" snow.
A truly extreme weather situation, especially for a place that is located in the Mediterranean area, although with an Alpine climate..but with temperatures lower than those reached in the same periods at the same altitude in the Alps, due to the Siberian currents which arrive here, through Eastern Europe, almost "intact", while in the Alps they have various obstacles, starting from the fact that these currents are generally of low thickness and the Alpine chains can slow them down or divert them.
If the station had been active in the freezing winter of 1929, given the archive isothermal maps at 850hpas, it is reasonable to assume that the temperatures in the area dropped to 30 or 32 degrees below zero with strong Bora winds, probably remaining at those values, especially between 10 and 13 February of that year, even during the day and for 48 or 72 consecutive hours.
The lowest thermal value of the last 10 years dates back to the dry January 2017 with -22°C.
Dinaric Alps Northern Velebit Mountain Range Seen from Zavižan Mountain Hut and International Weather Station at 1592m a.s.l.; Nacionalni Park Sjeverni Velebit, Primorsko-Goranska Županija i Ličko-Senjska Županija; Hrvatska
01-May-2025
Veliki Zavižan (1676m a.s.l., see notes) is the name of the mountain in the center of the photo, among the numerous peaks that make up this large chain/plateau it is one of the highest.
All the peaks in this view, including the first on the right, the very panoramic Velika Zavižanska Kosa (1622m) are higher than 1600m a.s.l. but appear more like hills due to the fact that the Northern Velebit chain is actually a compact massif (plateau type), over a dozen kilometers wide that maintains a height almost everywhere not less than 1500m, so the prominence of its peaks is minimal, while the dry valleys (not fluvial due to the porous calcareous soil) are not very marked.
The Zavižan weather station, next to the homonymous refuge, is located at the foot of the Vučjak peak (1645m a.s.l.), at 1592m a.s.l. and has been active since the post Second World War period.
Despite being a short distance from the Mediterranean, directly above the Kvarner islands and visible from everywhere, it has often had temperatures well below -20°C and it must be considered that the area is on a slope, not subject to local thermal inversions.
All the lowest temperatures recorded by the station, starting from -29°C on the 10th of freezing February 1956, were accompanied by continuous and furious Bora/Bura winds, with rising saturated currents, from Eastern Europe, originating in Siberia, from the Danubian valleys, therefore with 100% relative humidity, low freezing clouds, heavy hard rime and "stau" snow.
A truly extreme weather situation, especially for a place that is located in the Mediterranean area, although with an Alpine climate..but with temperatures lower than those reached in the same periods at the same altitude in the Alps, due to the Siberian currents which arrive here, through Eastern Europe, almost "intact", while in the Alps they have various obstacles, starting from the fact that these currents are generally of low thickness and the Alpine chains can slow them down or divert them.
If the station had been active in the freezing winter of 1929, given the archive isothermal maps at 850hpas, it is reasonable to assume that the temperatures in the area dropped to 30 or 32 degrees below zero with strong Bora winds, probably remaining at those values, especially between 10 and 13 February of that year, even during the day and for 48 or 72 consecutive hours.
The lowest thermal value of the last 10 years dates back to the dry January 2017 with -22°C.