Kachelmann calls storm with gale-force winds “foehn of the decade”
Published: Saturday, Mar 30th 2024, 11:01
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According to meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann, the foehn storm on Good Friday was a "foehn of the decade". Gusts of around 200 km/h and gale-force winds up to the northern border of Switzerland as well as extremely mild temperatures were exceptional.
As expected, Switzerland experienced the Föhn wind of the decade, wrote Kachelmann in an online article in the Tamedia newspapers on Saturday. There were winds of 200 km/h on the Lauberhorn BE, gusts of 198 km/h on the Klingenstock SZ and gusts of 191 km/h on the Gütsch above Andermatt UR.
On Friday afternoon and evening, the Föhn had not only reached Zurich, but had also reached the northern border of Switzerland with a Föhn storm on the Schaffhausen Randen and corresponding midnight temperatures of 16 degrees on the Beringer Randenturm and 15 degrees on the Begginger Landenhof.
Föhn as far as Germany
According to Kachelmann, the Swiss Föhn made it far into Germany. The extended branch of the Rhine Valley Föhn reached as far as the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd in Württemberg. A veritable Föhn storm also blew on the hills of the Swabian Alb.
According to Kachelmann, the extreme event was made possible by a large difference in air pressure between north and south. The high temperatures outside the foehn also contributed to this, "so that no heavy block of cold air had to be cleared away".
Mild temperatures
According to SRF Meteo, the highest temperatures in the Föhn valleys on Friday were just under 22 degrees. In Altenrhein SG and Kriessern SG, 21.8 degrees were measured and in Giswil OW, 21.5 degrees were reached. In Lucerne, it was still 21 degrees in the evening after 7 pm. In the south, however, it was cloudy. In Ticino, more than 30 milliliters of precipitation fell on Friday at 8 to 10 degrees.
Meteorologists expect the Föhn to weaken from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, pick up again on Sunday and then collapse on Monday. Gale-force gusts are expected again in the mountains.
©Keystone/SDA
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