Deep «Brigitte» – 400 millimeters of rain and hurricane gusts – Meteo

“Brigitte” brought a lot of rain and hurricane blasts to Switzerland on Friday and Saturday morning. In western Ticino, more than 400 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours, and in southern Valais and Uri it poured. There were also some hurricane gusts.

Deep “Brigitte” moved from the Bay of Biscay to France from Friday morning to Saturday noon and then filled up. On the downside front, an extreme south-southeast current entered, with heavy rains in the south and gusts of foehn, especially on Friday in the north.

Sometimes more than 400 millimeters of rain

With the extreme southeast current, a lot of moisture was dammed in the southern Alps for about 30 hours. Western Ticino and adjacent areas were particularly affected. In Camedo, in Centovalli, 421 millimeters were measured in 24 hours. That was the second highest value there. It only rained more with the Swiss absolute record on August 26, 1935 with 455 millimeters. In the neighboring Onsernone Valley, a total of 399 millimeters of rain has fallen since Friday morning. In just 24 hours it was 375 millimeters. This means that around 1.75 times more rain fell in Mosogno in 30 hours than in the whole of October. Compared to the heavy rains in late August, there was practically the same amount of precipitation, but in 30 hours and not in 60 hours as in August.

Heavy rains also in Valais

The south-eastern areas of Valais were also heavily affected by the rain. In the Binn Valley, 287 millimeters of rain have fallen since Friday morning, and there has been 266 millimeters of precipitation on the Simplon. Although these amounts are significantly lower than in Ticino, there is generally much less precipitation in these areas, leading to more problems, especially with runoff.

Uri, Glarus and Graubünden are also affected

It also rained heavily in the canton of Uri. Throughout the event, 218 millimeters fell at Göscheneralp and 168 millimeters at Andermatt. Because the snow line was about 3000 meters above sea level for a long time, practically all the precipitation was drained. It is not surprising that numerous streams and rivers overflowed from its banks, as did the Reuss. There were also extreme rains in the southern Glarus region. Because there are only a few rain gauges in the southern part of the canton, the amount of precipitation was not sufficiently recorded. The private Hintersand station clocked 105 millimeters. According to the media, 13 people had to be evacuated in Diesbach. There were also large amounts of precipitation and local flooding in Surselva, Misox and Bergell. At Sedrun, 145 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours. It had never rained so much there in 24 hours.

Elm with extreme hair dryer

In addition to heavy rains, the storm also caused damage. In Elm Township in Glarus, a foehn gust with a maximum value of 159 kilometers per hour was measured on Friday evening. This is in the range of the all-time record. 100 kilometers per hour were also measured in the canton’s capital. At Engelberg, the foehn reached a maximum value of 121 kilometers per hour. The foehn blew even stronger than at Elm and Engelberg on the Gütsch ob Andermatt at 169 kilometers per hour. On Saturday morning, even 181 kilometers per hour were recorded at the Matro, ob Biasca, in the southeastern high-altitude current. There were also over 140 kilometers per hour on the Piz Martegnas, the Jungfraujoch, the Titlis and the Vorab glacier. The Foehn valleys were also very hot on Friday. In Glarus, in the St. Gallen Rhine valley, but even on Lake Constance near Güttingen, on Friday it was 22 degrees, in Giswil / OW even 22.5 degrees.

End of precipitation

In the north it was dry since Saturday afternoon. At night it rains again, but the amounts are still relatively modest. However, there is a storm again, especially in the Jura. In the south there were still local showers or thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon. New rains are to be expected on Sunday, especially in the south. There should be another 10 to 30 millimeters there. Although this is comparatively little, it could still be too much in some places, as the slopes have become partially unstable. Next week will continue to be changeable on both sides of the Alps and with new rains, but intensities will generally remain low.