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WEATHER

This March in Switzerland was second warmest on record

Switzerland has experienced its second warmest March since records began in 1864, with an average temperature across the country of 3.9 degrees, according to the Swiss meteorological office.

Published: 31 March 2017 09:08 CEST
This March in Switzerland was second warmest on record
File photo: Roban Kramer
Only March 1994 surpassed that figure, with an average of 4.3 degrees, said MeteoSuisse. 
 
In the last few decades the ‘norm’ for this time of year has increased by one degree, said the weather office, from -0.3C during the 1960s and 70s to 0.7C in the period 1981-2010.
 
That means the average temperature across Switzerland this March surpassed the current norm by more than three degrees. 
 
And in some places it was the warmest March ever, notably in watchmaking town La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Jura, which surpassed the norm by 4.2 degrees.
 
The temperatures were boosted by a strong foehn wind at several points during the month which on March 20th helped temperatures in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino to 25.2 degrees, giving the region its first ‘summer’ day.
 
Lately, anticyclone conditions have brought warm and sunny weather with temperatures on the Swiss lowlands reaching 20 degrees. 
 
The warm weather has provoked the early flowering of many plants, said the weather office, with some blooming around a fortnight earlier than the norm.
 
The mild temperatures are expected to continue into next week. 
 
Source: MeteoSuisse

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WEATHER

Why are there so many weather-related disasters in Switzerland this summer?

From mudslides to flooded hiking trails, several Swiss regions have suffered serious weather-related damage during this year’s summer season.

Published: 14 August 2024 13:40 CEST
Why are there so many weather-related disasters in Switzerland this summer?

In the past weeks, frequent spells of extreme weather claimed lives and caused considerable material damage in several regions of the country.

Among them:

In June, parts of Switzerland, including the canton of Graubünden and the resort of Zermatt in Valais, were hit by huge floods, which claimed the lives of three people and left buildings and roads destroyed.

They were triggered by a violent thunderstorm that unleashed the rivers, causing a rock and mud avalanche in the municipality of Misox.

Additionally, landslide of mud and rubble destroyed a part of the north-south axis of the A13 motorway.

Areas of Valais and Ticino were also among those badly damaged by storms, with three people dead and five missing in the latter canton; the upper Val Maggia remained cut off from the rest of the country and without water and electricity for days.

And just this week, two people were injured in a massive storm in Brienz (canton Bern) and 70 others had to be evacuated from their homes, after the Milibach river overflowed after heavy rains, carrying stones, boulders and wood, which caused a water collector above the village to flow uncontrollably.

Buildings, parked vehicles, roads and public transport infrastructure were damaged.

Also, more than 620 trails –1,300 km in total – had to be closed to hikers due to heavy rains and flooding that hit some regions of the country at the end of June. 

READ ALSO: Hikers in Switzerland warned as hundreds of trails close

Why has this been happening?

“The summer of 2024 has been marked by particularly bad weather,” said meteorologist Felix Blumer. “There is one or two damaging thunderstorms every summer, but this year, there have been lot of them.”

There is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon: according to Blumer, most of the summer so far, the weather in Switzerland has been dominated by low pressure areas.

“It is precisely the low pressure situations that are important, with the summer solar radiation, the ground heats up very strongly. The warm, light air can rise, cool down, condense – resulting in showers and thunderstorms.”

In a simple(r) language, low pressure gives way to warm air and rainstorms, which explains the high number of strong and destructive thunderstorms.

Is the weather this summer really more ‘extreme’ than in the past?

According to Thomas Schlegel from Switzerland’s official weather service MeteoSwiss, “due to the extreme events that have occurred so far, 2024 will certainly go down in history as a year with a lot of bad weather and damage.”

He also cited “exceptional” lightning activity during the thunderstorms: over 70,000 lightning strikes were recorded — more than during a typical summer.

In fact, two people who were working in a field in Fribourg during one such lightning episode in July, were struck and injured, along with a police officer and a REGA pilot who came to their rescue. 

What’s ahead, weather-wise?

MeteoSwiss’ eight-day weather forecast predicts more rain and thunderstorms, ranging in severity, in various Swiss regions. 

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