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WEATHER

Heavy April snowfall heightens Swiss avalanche risk

UPDATED: Heavy snow caused problems for road and rail traffic in Switzerland on Thursday. The town of Andermatt in the canton of Uri was only accessible by train on Friday morning.

Published: 4 April 2019 09:40 CEST
Updated: 4 April 2019 20:00 CEST
Heavy April snowfall heightens Swiss avalanche risk
a freshly snow-covered landscape field near Sottens in the canton of Vaud on Thursday. Photo: AFP

After a healthy dose of spring weather, winter made a return in the early hours of Wednesday with the country waking on Thursday to cold, wet – and sometimes white – conditions.

Up to a metre and a half of new snow has fallen in the Alps in the last 24 hours while the Swiss plateau also saw snowfall during the day on Thursday.

The heaviest snowfalls were seen in central Switzerland and in the western part of the canton of Ticino.

Traffic on the crucial north–south A2 axis was subject to regular delays during the day.

The town of Andermatt was cut off from the outside world on Thursday with train and road links closed because of the risk of avalanches. As of Friday morning, it was only reachable by train, according to Swiss media.

The snowfall is expected to stop overnight. However, the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) has issued a warning stating that the avalanche risk will be “high” (level 4 of 5) in some areas on Friday.

The avalanche risk in Switzerland for Friday April 5th. Image: SLF

Meanwhile, weather conditions across the country tomorrow will be far less wintry with temperatures ranging from 7–12C north of the Alps and hitting highs of 17C in Ticino.

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WEATHER

Will Switzerland be visited by ‘Ice Saints’ this year?

Ascension is not the only annual happening in the country in May, as Switzerland also ‘celebrates’ another 'chilling' event this month.

Published: 8 May 2024 14:20 CEST
Will Switzerland be visited by 'Ice Saints' this year?

From May 11th to the 15th, a meteorological event takes place each year in Switzerland.

It “observes”, though admittedly not on scientific basis, a centuries-old weather phenomenon called “Ice Saints”.

What exactly is it?

As its name suggests, it is related to saints, as well as ice and frost.

The saints in question are St Mamertus, St Pancras, St Servatius and St Boniface.

According to a weather lore, once these Ice Saints have passed through Switzerland in the middle of May, frost will no longer pose a threat to farmers and their land.

As the official government meteorological service MeteoSwiss explains it, “spring frosts have been a regular occurrence for centuries, giving rise to the traditional belief that a blast of cold air often arrives in the middle of May. Over time, this piece of weather lore became known as the Ice Saints.”

Fact versus myth

You may be wondering whether the Ice Saints lore actually has basis in reality.

Records, which date back to 1965 and originate from the Geneva-Cointrin, Payerne, and Zurich-Kloten weather stations, “clearly show that, over the long-term average, frost directly above the soil is only a regular occurrence up until the middle of April”, MeteoSwiss says. “After that, the frequency with which ground frost occurs progressively declines to almost zero by the end of May.”

“We can conclude, therefore, that there is no evidence in Switzerland to confirm the Ice Saints as a period in May when ground frost is more common.”

However, MeteoSwiss does concede that “ground frost is nevertheless a regular occurrence throughout May as a whole…having occurred at least once or twice in May every year, and in around 40 percent of the years there were more than two days in May with ground frost.”

What about this year?

MeteoSwiss weather forecast for the next seven days indicates that, this year too, no frost will be present on the ground in mid-May.

In fact, temperatures through much of Switzerland will be in double digits, reaching between 18C and 25C, depending on the region.

You can see what to expect in your area, here. 

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