Black ice: storms in the district of Miesbach feared - road maintenance alarmed

Created: 2022-12-13, 1:46 p.m

By: Sebastian Grauvogl

Road salt is an important tool in the fight against wintry road conditions (symbol photo).

© dpa

A dangerous black ice situation threatens in the district of Miesbach.

Weather services warn of massive restrictions and damage.

The Hausham road maintenance department has been alerted.

district

- The data from the three ice warning systems does not bode well.

Air temperatures of below -18 degrees were registered by the sensors on the federal roads in the Miesbach district early on Tuesday morning, reports Horst Müller from the Hausham road maintenance department.

The experts are even more worried about the readings taken from a depth of five centimeters under the road: "We're clearly in the red there, too," says Müller.

That alone does not pose any danger.

But if what all weather models are forecasting for Wednesday happens, the situation would deteriorate dramatically within a few hours: Hours of freezing rain could trigger massive restrictions on road and rail traffic, the German Weather Service (DWD) warned on Tuesday afternoon in advance information about black ice storms.

Even damage to the infrastructure, for example to power poles and lines,

as well as ice breakage in forests are possible.

Other parts of southern Upper Bavaria are in the danger zone - the district of Miesbach is right in the middle.

Air mass limit creates black ice

The fact that the exact course of events is still uncertain even a few hours before the situation begins is due to the weather conditions themselves. A low north of the Azores triggers a warm front that crosses the Alps from the south-west and meets the massive layer of frost of the past few days here.

A so-called air mass boundary is created, separating ice and warm air within a few dozen kilometers.

It's snowing to the north and raining to the south.

Exactly where this dividing line will be cannot be predicted exactly.

And therefore not whether and when the dangerous freezing rain will actually occur in the Miesbach district.

Also read: Road maintenance Hausham ready for winter service

If Strassenmeister Müller has his way, snow would be his favorite option.

If the freezing rain does fall, it is best to do so at night, when hardly anyone is out on the streets.

"People usually perceive rain as a thaw," says Müller.

And thus interpreted as a kind of slippery all-clear.

In this weather situation, however, exactly the opposite would be the case.

Road maintenance ready for freezing rain

To be on the safe side, the road maintenance department is therefore preparing for the worst case.

As early as Tuesday evening, de-icing salt would be spread preventively and across the board, explains Müller.

After that, you will keep a close eye on the weather radar and the Free State's winter service information system based on the data from the DWD.

The measured values ​​of the ice alarm systems - on the B13 near Holzkirchen, on the Schlierachbrücke of the B472 near Miesbach and on the B307 near Klamm (Kreuth) - will be monitored.

In addition, camera images from the neighboring districts could help to identify the potentially dangerous weather change at an early stage.

Ultimately, however, the so-called microclimate is often decisive in such cases.

Due to the topography, there are definitely one or the other "freezer" in the district.

Also interesting: road maintenance despite staff shortages due to Corona

The road maintenance department will try to defuse the danger of black ice with a large number of staff and vehicles, assures Müller.

"All services are fully manned."

so called