THE IMPACT OF SPRING 2024 CLIMATIC EXTREMES ON THE ICE COVER PHENOLOGY OF THE SUBALPINE LAKE VELICKÉ PLESO (TATRA MTS., SLOVAKIA)

The study investigates the cryosphere of high-altitude lake Velick pleso (1,665 m a.s.l.) in the High Tatra Mountains within the context of climate change. It emphasizes the climate variability and extremes recorded in spring 2024, global and regional historical temperature maxima, and rapid temperature fluctuations linked by wind and snowfall. These factors resulted in the earliest start of ice cover break-up (BUS) on the 90 th day of the year, followed by subsequent freezing and thawing, and the second earliest end of ice cover break-up (BUE) occurring on the 121 st day of the year during the monitoring period of hydrological years (HY) 2016 -2024. As a result, the second shortest duration of ice phenomena (IP) was recorded at 177 days, alongside the shortest complete ice cover duration (CID) lasting 132 days (as well as in HY 2020) in the period of HY 2017 -2024. These findings reinforce the reliability of lake ice phenology as a vital indicator of climatic trends and changes. Prspevok skma kryosfru vysokohorskho jazera Velick pleso (1 665 m n. m.) vo Vysokch Tatrch v kontexte zmeny klmy. Poukazuje na premenlivos a extrmy klmy zaznamenan na jar 2024, globlne a regionlne historick teplotn maxim a rchle teplotn vkyvy spojen s veternosou a snehovmi zrkami. Tieto faktory spsobili najskor zaiatok rozmzania adovej pokrvky (BUS), 90. de v roku, jej opakovan zamzanie a rozmzanie a druh najskor koniec rozmzania (BUE), ktor nastal 121. de v roku, za monitorovan obdobie hydrologickch rokov 2016 -2024. V dsledku toho bolo zaznamenan druh najkratie trvanie adovch javov (IP), 177 dn, ale aj celistvej adovej pokrvky (CID), trvajcej 132 dn (rovnako ako v HY 2020), poas obdobia HY 2017 -2024. Tieto zistenia potvrdzuj vznamnos fenolgie jazernho adu ako dleitho indiktora klimatickch trendov a zmien.