Start of spring doesn’t quite reach the “magical” 20 degrees
Published: Wednesday, Mar 20th 2024, 19:00
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The astronomical start of spring barely broke the barrier of the "magic" 20 degrees on Wednesday. In Basel, the MeteoSwiss weather office measured 19.3 degrees. The private weather service Meteonews recorded 22.8 degrees for Riehen BS.
And in Cazis GR, Meteonews measured 21 degrees. However, this does not come close to the record of 24.7 degrees in Chur on March 18, 2004. The 19.3 degrees in Basel is also not a record or particularly early, as the Federal Office of Meteorology (MeteoSwiss) reported at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The first day with 20 degrees in 2023 fell on January 1 in Delsberg JU, as Meteonews wrote on X.
According to MeteoSwiss, the 120-year measurement series in Basel shows the first occurrence of over 20 degrees at the end of February for three years. The earliest date was February 23 in 1903 and 2017. In 30 percent of the reference years 1991 to 2020, temperatures of over 20 degrees occurred in Basel before March 18. On average, Basel measured over 20 degrees on March 25.
This means that the current temperatures on the northern side of the Alps are within the normal range. It was between 16 and 18 degrees on the Central Plateau on Wednesday. This also corresponded to the widespread temperatures on the southern side of the Alps.
According to the weather forecasts, temperatures are likely to make another attempt to reach the 20 degree mark after a slight dip on Friday.
©Keystone/SDA
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