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WEATHER

Swiss winter kicks off with heavy snowfall in many areas

Many parts of Switzerland were covered with snow over the weekend but the overall weather picture was one of extremes.

Published: 7 January 2019 09:31 CET
Swiss winter kicks off with heavy snowfall in many areas
The Rhine Valley in St Gallen on Sunday. Photo: The Local

Large parts of the country saw snowfall on Saturday and Sunday with 40–70 centimetres falling in the south-eastern canton of Graubünden.

The highest snowfall in Graubünden – 73 centimetres – was registered in St. Antönien while the cantonal capital of Chur registered 25 centimetres.

Many parts of the Swiss plateau were also blanketed, but western Switzerland, Valais and north-western Switzerland saw no new white stuff.

Police received numerous reports of traffic accidents although most did not result in injury.

An accident in Rapperswil-Jona. Photo: St Gallen Cantonal Police

In the canton of Aargau, a salt spreader tipped over, as can been seen in the image below.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton of Ticino enjoyed spring-like conditions with temperatures around 15 degrees.

The  Locarno-Magadino weather station registered an overnight temperature of above 11 degrees on Saturday to Sunday – the highest January minimum since records began in 1959, according to private weather service MeteoNews.

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

One last weekend getaway. #lugano #ticino #switzerland #weekendgetaway

A post shared by elinor ? (@__elinor) on Jan 6, 2019 at 6:24am PST

A cold week is now expected north of the Alps, while it will continue to be bright in Ticino with temperatures around 10C. 

The avalanche risk remains elevated across the Alps. Two people died in separate avalanches late last week.

WEATHER

IN PICTURES: ‘Exceptional’ Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Published: 8 April 2024 14:15 CEST
IN PICTURES: 'Exceptional' Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at Copernicus, said the latest event was related to a weather pattern that has brought warmer weather to parts of Europe in recent days.

“While it is not unusual for Saharan dust plumes to reach Europe, there has been an increase in the intensity and frequency of such episodes in recent years, which could be potentially attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns,” he said.

This latest episode has caused air quality to deteriorate in several countries, Copernicus said.

The European Union’s safe threshold for concentrations of PM10 — coarser particles like sand and dust that that can irritate the nose and throat — has already been exceeded in some locations.

A picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows a rapeseed field under thick sand dust blown in from the Sahara, giving the sky a yellowish appearance near Daillens, western Switzerland. – An “exceptional” dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent’s climate monitor said, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The worst affected was the Iberian Peninsula in Spain but lesser air pollution spikes were also recorded in parts of Switzerland, France and Germany.

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Local authorities in southeastern and southern France announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday.

They advised residents to avoid intense physical activity, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The dust outbreak was expected to reach Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia before ending on Tuesday with a shift in weather patterns, Copernicus said.

The Sahara emits between 60 and 200 million tonnes of fine dust every year, which can travel thousands of kilometres (miles), carried by winds and certain meteorological conditions.

The Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa saw just 12 days within a 90-day period from December to February where skies were free of Saharan dust, the local weather agency Aemet had reported.

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