Forecast is for more of the same
Update 14 July 10:00 ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Thunderstorms and heavy rains are taking their toll in central and eastern Switzerland, with emergency services taking calls for pleasure craft in trouble on the lakes, trees down on roads, cellars flooded.
Torrential rains in parts of Valais are prompting fears of flooding in Zermatt (video, 20 Minutes) and the A2 autoroute in Ticino was cut off between Lugano and Mendrisio by a mudslide late Wednesday.
In the Bernese Oberland the Schynige Platte rail line was cut off by fallen trees and 64 passengers had to be evacuated by helicopters.
Zurich has had the most rain, according to TSR, with 40cm/m2 at the airport.
MeteoSwiss is predicting more of the same until at least mid-day Thursday in western Switzerland and Saturday in the central and eastern parts of the country.
Photos below, taken from the same spot in Valais during one hour, show the rapidly changing weather in the Alps. Click on images to view larger.
Swiss Alpine storm pummels garden 13 July
Heavy sheets of rain swept across the Alps Wednesday
Val d'Anniviers, storms come to an end
Val d'Anniviers, end of storm 13 July 2011
Not a cloud in the sky - storms have moved on to eastern Switzerland
The clouds are not quite ready to call it a day! Hikers, beware.
The A9 autoroute heading towards Valais suddenly opens up after Villeneuve, wide and flat and straight and - oops, now there are radars from Aigle to Bex, so watch that gas pedal!
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Some motorists’ favourite A9 autoroute spot for speeding up has just become more treacherous, in terms of being caught, thanks to the installation of new radars.
Two boxes appeared Friday on the stretch of road between Aigle and Bex, in canton Vaud just before Valais, heading in the direction of Valais. The radars went into effect Monday morning 30 May. They don’t flash a driver for speeding at a fixed point but take the average speed over the stretch.
Speeders will be flashed, but no fines handed out on the basis of what the radar clocks, for the first month, to allow the system to be tested.
The ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) radars have proven effective in other countries, says the Federal Highway Department. They improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of speeders, and in some countries, the number of fatalities and serious accidents have been reduced by half.
The 8-km radar intalled this week is a portable system, but by 2012 a fixed system will be in place.
Switzerland’s first ANPR radars were set up in the A2′s Arisdorf tunnel stretch of road near Basel in January 2011.
Vaud A9 and mobile ANPR radars next, for spring
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Basel on Thursday 13 January becomes home to Switzerland’s first tunnel speed radar system that calculates the average time over a distance rather than taking a snapshot of a car’s speed at one point. The new ANPR (automatic number plate recognitino) average speed system, or CTV as it’s called in French for contrôle de vitesse par tronçon, will become operational on the A2 autoroute in the Arisdorf tunnel. The sophisticated radar system identifies different vehicle types and calculates the average speed over a section to see if the bus or truck or car is respecting the speed for that kind of vehicle. Speed limits are adjusted automatically to reflect traffic conditions and a dynamic signage system will will work in tandem with the speed radar.
Arisdorf, near Basel, Switzerland: new average speed radars in 2011
Italy, Austria and The Netherlands use average pseed systems and report that the number of deaths due to speeding has been nearly halved. The UK uses similar systems, notably in Scotland.
The Swiss system has undergone several months of testing. The results of the first months in full operation will be analyzed in August 2011, along with results from an automatic speed radar to be installed on the A9 in Vaud in sprng and one mobile radar that will go into use at the same time. The highway department says it will inform motorists when and where the radars are being put in place.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The balance of road and rail transport of goods across the Alps remained stable in 2008, with trains carrying 64% and road haulers 46%.
