A waterspout formed over Lake Geneva
Published: Sunday, Aug 18th 2024, 13:20
Retour au fil d'actualité
The hot spell was followed by a cold shower at the weekend. It rained heavily throughout Switzerland. A waterspout even formed over Lake Geneva, as reported by MeteoSwiss.
A waterspout tends to form in such weather conditions in late summer, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) wrote on Twitter on Sunday. When the water in the lakes is warm and the air above is cold, the conditions are right for waterspouts to form.
A waterspout is like a mini tornado. A spatially limited but strong whirlwind over a water surface that rotates around an axis. As a rule, waterspouts are not dangerous as there are no particularly high wind speeds in the area of the vortex. As soon as waterspouts reach land, they dissipate quickly.
From Saturday evening to Sunday morning, five to 10 liters of precipitation per square meter fell in all parts of the country, according to MeteoSwiss. The most rain fell in the Neuchâtel region, with up to 75 liters per square meter. In the Lausanne area, 50 to 65 liters of rain per square meter were measured. MeteoSwiss also expected further precipitation until early Monday morning.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic