Föhn storm comes to an end – avalanches and traffic problems
Published: Monday, Apr 1st 2024, 17:10
Updated At: Monday, Apr 1st 2024, 21:30
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After the end of the Föhn storm over the Alps, the traffic situation on railways, roads and mountain railroads calmed down somewhat on Monday. However, the risk of avalanches increased. At least three people were buried near Zermatt in Valais. A search was still underway for them on Monday evening.
According to the Valais cantonal police, the avalanche broke loose on the Riffelberg in a variant area. The avalanche occurred shortly after 2.00 pm.
A lot of fresh snow and gale-force winds had previously caused a considerable avalanche risk in the southern Alps of Switzerland. On Easter Monday, there was great danger in parts of Graubünden and Valais.
Traffic situation calms down
In contrast, the traffic situation calmed down in many places. The Andermatt - Tschamut-Selva line on the Oberalp Pass was one of the rail connections that reopened on Easter Monday. Operations had been suspended on Sunday. Most of the trains in the Jungfrau region of the Bernese Oberland were also running again after the end of the strong foehn winds over the Easter weekend.
The road into the Calanca Valley in south-western Graubünden was also cleared. Due to the heavy rainfall, the authorities had closed this road on Sunday for safety reasons. And on Monday evening, the authorities in the Saas Valley wanted to reopen the link between Stalden VS and Saas-Grund.
However, the Simplon Pass road is still closed, as is the car transport on the Furka, because the access road between Hospental and Realp on the Uri side of the pass is at risk of avalanches and is therefore closed.
In Graubünden, the Bernina line of the Rhaetian Railway between Pontresina and Poschiavo will remain closed until further notice for safety reasons. As the road is also closed, no replacement buses can be used, the company announced. In addition, a landslide has occurred near Cadera, which has buried the railroad line.
The Bernina line is closed between Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy due to the risk of falling rocks. However, rail replacement buses are running between these towns.
Storm in the lowlands with Sahara dust
On the night of Good Friday, the Föhn set in and swept across Switzerland like a hurricane over the next few days: 190 km/h were measured on the Gütsch above Andermatt in the canton of Uri, for example, which is the second-highest wind speed ever recorded there for March, according to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss).
The storm even whirled through the lowlands at 130 kilometers per hour, blowing Saharan dust in front of it.
On Easter Monday morning, SRF Meteo measured fairly strong winds in the south of Switzerland. Gusts reached 98 km/h in Lugano. On the Gornergrat VS and the Weissfluhjoch GR, the weather service measured speeds of 105 km/h, while on the Moléson in the canton of Fribourg, the wind was gusting at 101 km/h.
But then the Föhn collapsed, as Roger Perret from the Meteonews weather service said on Monday afternoon on request. On the Gornergrat near Zermatt, it was only blowing at 18 kilometers per hour in the afternoon and on Monte Generoso in Ticino at 40 to 50 km/h. Perret assumed that the rainfall in Ticino would come to an end on Tuesday night.
Rain over rain in Ticino
From Good Friday to Easter Monday, it rained almost continuously on the southern side of the Alps. And unusually for Ticino: not an hour of sunshine, according to SRF Meteo. Enormous amounts of rain fell there. In Mogogno in the Onsernone Valley, more than 250 millimetres of rain fell, which corresponds to 250 liters per square meter.
According to the weather service Meteonews, a long-term average of 100 to 140 liters can be expected in northern Ticino throughout March. However, the 159 liters measured in Locarno-Monti also significantly exceeded the March norm. It is 96 liters.
Parts of Valais and Uri also received a lot of rain. In Simplon-Dorf VS, for example, 152 millimetres of rain were measured between Good Friday morning and Easter Monday morning. On the Göscheneralp UR it was 136 millimetres.
Benches in the water on Lake Maggiore
The heavy rain caused the water levels of the lakes in Ticino to rise. According to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the level of Lake Maggiore (Lago Maggiore) rose by around one meter between Holy Saturday and Easter Monday afternoon, as can be seen from data on the FOEN website.
SRF Meteo showed a video on the short news platform X showing benches near Locarno standing in lake water. However, the federal government only spoke of a moderate risk of flooding in the areas with the most precipitation. And according to the FOEN forecast, the level of Lake Maggiore is likely to peak as early as Tuesday night.
©Keystone/SDA
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