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Warm, wacky and wild weather predicted for Switzerland this weekend

From Spring-like temperatures in parts of the country to avalanche warnings in other areas, wild, weird and inconsistent weather has been predicted for Switzerland this weekend.

Published: 5 February 2021 18:40 CET
Warm, wacky and wild weather predicted for Switzerland this weekend
Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

It’s not yet the middle of February but this weekend will see the first pollen of the Spring. According to meteorologists, the mild temperatures are responsible for bringing the plants to bloom early. 

In bad news for allergy sufferers, high levels of pollen are predicted in the north and south of the country. 

 

 

According to meteorologist Klaus Marqardt, it does not take much warm weather for plants to believe winter is over. 

“It only has to be mild for a week and it will start to bloom,” Marquardt told Swiss news outlet 20 Minutes. 

“It is clear, however, that the temperatures are too mild for this time of the year,” he said. But unfortunately for warm weather lovers, one sneeze does not a summer make. 

“On Sunday a cold front comes up again and then the pollen count is over again,” he said. 

Indeed, there are avalanche warnings for much of Switzerland over the weekend. 

A 28-year-old snowboarder died on Thursday in Grisons, bringing the number of winter sportspeople who died in avalanches this winter to 18. 

READ MORE: Is the pandemic to blame for Switzerland's spate of avalanche deaths? 

A low pressure system is expected to move into mountainous regions this weekend, bringing with it snow, wind and cold temperatures. 

In the Swiss Alps there is this weekend a considerable risk of avalanches, for example in Valais, Bern, in central Switzerland and in Graubünden.

Up to date information on avalanches can be found at the following link. 

 

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WEATHER

Avalanches in Switzerland kill two

Avalanches in Switzerland have left two people dead, leading officials to warn on Saturday of the risks posed by particularly unstable snow cover. A further eight people have died in neighbouring Austria

Published: 5 February 2023 08:46 CET
Avalanches in Switzerland kill two

In Switzerland, two off-piste skiers were killed by an avalanche Saturday morning in the southeastern canton of Graubuenden, the cantonal police said.

A third member of the group was caught up in the flow of snow but managed to escape unharmed, local police said in a statement.

The two skiers who died were a 56-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man, said police.

The rescue operation there was hampered by poor visibility and bad weather conditions, police said.

In Austria, the body of a 59-year-old man buried while helping the snow removal effort in his tractor was recovered, police in Austria’s western Tyrol region said on Sunday.

Two skiers aged 29 and 33, including a guide, who were carried off-piste on Saturday morning, were found dead in Sankt Anton am Arlberg.

And a 62-year-old man, who had not returned after cross-country skiing around the summit of Hohe Aifner, was recovered by rescuers and could not be revived, a police spokesman told AFP.

The authorities declined to give information on the nationality of the four victims recovered Sunday.

These deaths are in addition to the three killed on Saturday who were visiting Austria’s Alpine regions.

“One winter sports enthusiast was killed in an avalanche in Kaltenbach on Saturday,” a police spokesman told AFP, without giving further details of the
accident in the small Alpine village.

Austrian news agency APA reported that the victim was a 17-year-old New Zealander who was skiing off-piste.

On Friday, a 32-year-old Chinese man, who was also said to be skiing away from the designated routes, died in an avalanche in the resort of Soelden.

A third victim was found dead Saturday after being reported missing the previous day. APA reported that the man, in his 50s, had died in the Kleinwalsertal valley on Austria’s border with Germany.
   
Over the past two days, intensive snowfall and wind have increased the avalanche danger.

The officials in Austria have warned winter sports enthusiasts to exercise caution.

Despite the alert level being set at four on a scale of five however, many holidaymakers have ventured off the marked slopes, authorities said.

The avalanche situation also led to numerous rescue operations on Saturday, which were themselves made more dangerous by the weather conditions.

With the February school holidays underway in Vienna, Austria’s resorts have filled up, after a poor start to the season because of the lack of snow at low and medium altitudes.

In recent years, in Austria, a leading winter sports destination, avalanches have killed around twenty people a year.

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