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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

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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