Weather in Switzerland: danger of avalanches, high winds and floods

In Saxony (VS) an avalanche breaks out on the vineyards.

Laurent Gillieron / Cornerstone

ran./ela./cov. Since Friday, white has given way to gray in the lowlands. The snow has melted, the rain fell in large quantities. The water level rises, and the Federal Office for Civil Protection (Babs) warns of flooding and flooding, especially in the foothills of the Alps. The Thur had reached the high water level in Andelfingen on Friday night. Authorities recommended avoiding or leaving the affected areas, sandbags were placed to protect against flooding, and firefighters kept people away from the benches. The Bern canton police have received around 115 reports since Thursday, they write on Twitter, “mainly due to ingress of water, but also downed trees and avalanches.” In Lake Biel, the regulating service has minimized the outflow at the Wehr port to reduce the outflow to the Aare, as the canton announced on Friday.

Rhine closed to shipping from Basel

The water level has also risen in the northwest of the country. On Friday evening, the Rhine in Basel surpassed the high water mark I, which is 700 centimeters. During the course of Friday morning, a 842-centimeter support was measured. As announced by the Basel Revierzentrale from the ports of the Swiss Rhine, large-scale shipping was suspended. Currently, ferries cannot use the Rhine either.

The storm also affects public and private transport: part of the A 2 motorway between Altdorf and Beckenried is closed due to the risk of avalanches. Many roads in Valais, the Bernese Oberland and central Switzerland are not passable for the same reason. Water on the road affects the route to Basel between Rothenburg and the Neuenkirch service area.

SBB has problems on several lines, such as between Freiburg and Bern, Aigle and Leysin, Gossau and Wasserauen, Täsch and Zermatt, and Disentis and Andermatt. The reasons are strong winds or the danger of avalanches. The scenic route on the Gotthard pass between Erstfeld and Airolo has been served by replacement buses since Thursday.

People in Valais villages saved

Lots of fresh snow and higher temperatures – this increases the likelihood of avalanches. In Valais, the risk was sometimes assessed as very high and set at the highest warning level 5. According to the Snow and Avalanche Research Institute, it has been at level 4 since Friday, as in the entire Alpine region .

In fact, avalanches broke out in various places in Valais, such as Lourtier, near Verbier. According to “20 minutes” at 6 in the morning, a chairlift was buried under the masses of snow. There were no people in the place. The canton police ask the population to stay in their homes. Movement in the open air should be restricted to a minimum, cantonal police wrote in a message late Thursday. On Friday he ordered the evacuation of the L’a Neuve neighborhood in La Fouly. The hamlets of Les Granges and Ferret also had to be abandoned at 2:00 p.m. The wind and rain had again increased the danger of avalanches.

There is a general danger of avalanches in Switzerland

In addition, the population must pay attention to signs and stay away from avalanche areas. Police also urge caution on the streets. Several traffic connections are already closed in Upper Valais. There has been a lot of fresh snow since Wednesday, especially between Upper Valais and northern Grisons, as Meteonews writes: 86 centimeters of fresh snow was measured at Fieschertal and 78 centimeters at Trun. Ski tours, freeride, and snowshoeing should be avoided at all costs. As the Valais cantonal police continue to write in their message, some particularly threatened areas may need to be evacuated.

In Raron there was a rock fall in a quarry. The mayor said on SRF television that the surrounding buildings had therefore been evacuated. There was damage to the facades. The Valais canton police announced in a press release that there was no evidence of injuries, although debris from the rockfall reached the residential area. Construction machinery would be used to clean the stream. In addition to the police and firefighters, the civil defense, the canton geologist, the ambulance and the mountain rescue are also on duty.

High water levels also in the western central plateau

The Mittelland cantons of Solothurn and Aargau are also affected, where rain and snowmelt cause high levels of water in rivers and streams. For the Rhine, the cantonal management team of Aargau expects a hazard level of 3 out of 5, for the Aare with level 2. In Wallbach am Rhein, the canton of Aargau has installed so-called beaver hoses. In Brugg an der Aare, the fire brigade is installing its own flood barriers. The situation is also tense in Emme in the canton of Solothurn, where a flood alarm was activated in the morning.

More precipitation expected

Due to a cold front, a lot of rainfall and strong winds can be expected again on Friday. According to SRF Meteo, the snowfall limit in the Lake Constance, Northwest Switzerland, Jura and Western Switzerland regions will be lowered to 1,200 meters. Gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour can be expected in the lowlands and up to 120 kilometers per hour in the mountains. In the Alps and pre-Alps, the snow line is likely to drop down to 1,000 meters. Up to 80 centimeters of fresh snow could fall.