Heavy rain pummels eastern Switzerland
The Local - [email protected]
Published: 1 Sep, 2017 CET.
Updated: Fri 1 Sep 2017 11:10 CET
More than 200mm of rain fell in Locarno on Wednesday, bringing summer in the Italian-speaking city to a very wet end.
The canton of Ticino was the worst hit as a cold front washed across the country bringing heavy rain and violent thunderstorms in southern and eastern regions in particular.
Locarno in Ticino topped the rain charts with 212mm of precipitation, said MeteoNews in a statement, while the Rhine valley saw around 70-90mm.
The snow line has dropped to 1,700-2,000m, it said.
The rain brought a risk of localized flooding and landslides to many parts, and is thought to have been the cause of a second major landslide in the Bregaglia valley on Thursday evening, a week after the village of Bondo was severely damaged by a first huge rockfall.
The road to the village of La Fouly in the Valais was blocked by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, said local media, but was eventually cleared the next morning.
Une grosse coulée de boue coupe la route de La Fouly, à la hauteur de l'Amônaz: La route de La Fouly est coupée… https://t.co/4bSaXOZC5p pic.twitter.com/faZCZmpEG8
— Le Nouvelliste (@lenouvelliste) August 31, 2017
The heavy rain and lower temperatures make for an abrupt change in Switzerland after one of the hottest summers on record.
In July MeteoSuisse said 2017 was on course to be at least the third hottest since records began in 1864, competing with only 2003 and 2015 for the top spot.
By the halfway point summer 2017 was on average four degrees warmer than the norm.
The last few months have been characterized by spells of extremely hot weather interspersed with violent storms such as the one early July that caused major flooding in Zofingen.
On Thursday MeteoNews said in many places August was 1-2 degrees hotter than the norm, with above average sunshine and too little rain.
The hot weather has been good news for outdoor pools and lakeside ‘badi’, with pools in Bern and Zurich reporting a bumper summer, said Blick.
While the country is currently languishing under a cold front it may not mean the summery weather is over for good.
Speaking to Blick, Roger Perret of MeteoNews said he was hopeful that there could still be summer temperatures in September.
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The canton of Ticino was the worst hit as a cold front washed across the country bringing heavy rain and violent thunderstorms in southern and eastern regions in particular.
Locarno in Ticino topped the rain charts with 212mm of precipitation, said MeteoNews in a statement, while the Rhine valley saw around 70-90mm.
The snow line has dropped to 1,700-2,000m, it said.
The rain brought a risk of localized flooding and landslides to many parts, and is thought to have been the cause of a second major landslide in the Bregaglia valley on Thursday evening, a week after the village of Bondo was severely damaged by a first huge rockfall.
The road to the village of La Fouly in the Valais was blocked by a mudslide on Thursday afternoon, said local media, but was eventually cleared the next morning.
Une grosse coulée de boue coupe la route de La Fouly, à la hauteur de l'Amônaz: La route de La Fouly est coupée… https://t.co/4bSaXOZC5p pic.twitter.com/faZCZmpEG8
— Le Nouvelliste (@lenouvelliste) August 31, 2017
The heavy rain and lower temperatures make for an abrupt change in Switzerland after one of the hottest summers on record.
In July MeteoSuisse said 2017 was on course to be at least the third hottest since records began in 1864, competing with only 2003 and 2015 for the top spot.
By the halfway point summer 2017 was on average four degrees warmer than the norm.
The last few months have been characterized by spells of extremely hot weather interspersed with violent storms such as the one early July that caused major flooding in Zofingen.
On Thursday MeteoNews said in many places August was 1-2 degrees hotter than the norm, with above average sunshine and too little rain.
The hot weather has been good news for outdoor pools and lakeside ‘badi’, with pools in Bern and Zurich reporting a bumper summer, said Blick.
While the country is currently languishing under a cold front it may not mean the summery weather is over for good.
Speaking to Blick, Roger Perret of MeteoNews said he was hopeful that there could still be summer temperatures in September.
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