<p>The threat of surface discontinuous deformations–sinkholes is a frequent serious problem in many places all over the world. In polish conditions deformations are connected with shallow galleries mined a long time ago. Forecasting sinkhole formation is difficult because of randomness of the phenomenon frequent lack of data necessary for prediction. Credible forecasts should include the mechanism of sinkhole formation. As the existing forecast methods have limitations resulting from assumptions, a procedure for preparing forecasts that uses methods known in literature is proposed. The procedure is illustrated by an example. A way of determining expected sinkhole size based on statistical data is also proposed.</p>