Yesterday, six houses were evacuated in Patreksfjörður, the West Fjords, due to avalanche risk, but snowfall there is now tapering off, according to Tómas Jóhannesson, glaciological research group leader at the Icelandic Met Office. He told Vísir an avalanche alert phase will still be in effect through this afternoon. No avalanches have been detected, but people are on the alert for them.
“The worst is over, but it keeps snowing today,” Tómas stated. “This is more precipitation than we normally get, but total accumulation in Patreksfjörður since last night has reached 50 mm, and there is no end to it yet.”
Tómas says it snowed much more in Patreksfjörður and Tálknafjörður than in the rest of the West Fjords. People, he says, are also on the alert for avalanche risk in the north, especially in Dalsmynni, Ljósavatnsskarð, Ólafsfjarðarmúli and on the road to Siglufjörður. In those areas, the main concern is that blowing snow and strong winds could cause an avalanche.
The avalanche risk is also being monitored closely in the East Fjords, which received large accumulations of snow overnight, but the weather has already improved in that region.
The Icelandic Met Office has issued a warning for North (including the West Fjords) and East Iceland for today. Wind from the east in excess of 20 meters per second (20-28 meters per second) is expected. The winds will not die down in the West Fjords until tonight, but by noon elsewhere.
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