Fire death, drunk driver victims, high speed chase part of busy weekend emergency services work
Strong winds coupled with frigid temperatures whipped up icy flames on the lake surface Monday morning
Lake Geneva views of opposite shorelines obliterated by heavy waves and two metre high tongues of icy mists Monday 6 February
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A new record low temperature for this winter was set in canton Graubuenden’s Engadine region, in Samedan this weekend: -35.1C.
The death toll from the cold in Europe, now estimated to be over 300 people, continues to rise.
In Switzerland, the icy weekend kept police and firefighters busy, and Touring Club Suisse (TCS), the automobile club, had a record 23,000 calls to help motorists.
Trains are running slow in several areas as the CFF rail company deals with icy lines and other cold-related problems.
Burst pipes caused flooding Saturday and Sunday, notably in Geneva and Lausanne, reports TSR. The head of Swissgrid, which manages the Swiss electricity supply, told NZZ in Zurich this weekend that the country risks blackouts in coming days because the system is pushed to its limits.
A main SSR (public broadcasting) emitter on top of Säntis mountain gave way under pressure from heavy snow, according to 24 Heures, and is using emergency power.
Vernier drunk driver crashes into trio
Police in Geneva were called to Vernier Saturday night where a 25-year-old man with a two-week old grudge against a nightclub worker left the establishment on Chemin des Batailles and got into his parked car, then drove into three young customers of the club, narrowly missing the club employee.
He had been drinking in several night spots and his alcohol level was measured at 1.69 after the accident, according to Geneva police. His victims were a 20-year-old Geneva man who lives in Vernier who was treated at the nearby Hopital de la Tour and two women who were taken to the cantonal hospital. The 19-year-old woman, who is Bolivian and lives in Rolle, is being treated for several facial injuries and the 18-year-old for a broken leg.
The driver continued and crashed into a number of rental cars parked nearby. He is under arrest for attempting to cause severe bodily harm and on other charges, and his license has been lifted.
Lausanne police chase ends in three captured
A car in Lutry with four people suddenly took off Friday when police stopped it and led area police on a high-speed chase as far as Chemin Campagne Pierraz-Portay in Pully, where the passengers took off on foot. Two were caught and arrested, along with the driver, when police discovered a quantity of goods stolens from homes in the Lausanne region. The car had Belgian plates and the two Algerians and one Iraqi were from Belgium, ages 32-35. Police are looking for their partner.
One dead in Martigny fire
One person died and another was saved by firefighters from a second floor balcony of an apartment building early Saturday 4 February when a fire broke out.
The identity of the victim is being established, say canton Valais police.
The first floor apartment was unoccupied. The cause of the fire, at 01:15, is being investigated.
Swiss law requires drivers to have clean windshields and the snow brushed off the car
Update 10:55 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - There has been so little snow this winter it is easy for drivers to forget to check their routes, but snow has returned, Thursday morning 24 February, with the snow line on the lakefront in the Lake Geneva region.
TSR’s road information (Fre, map) and the federal truck road alerts (Eng, map) provide current state of traffic information. The Lausanne-Pontarlier area has slowdowns due to snow, and traffic is restricted in several mountain areas.
There is icy snow at 700 metres.
Reminder: you are legally required to have snow tires in Switzerland when travelling under snowy conditions and if you’re taking a mountain pass you should have chains in the car.
Trains are in Europe are filling up, as flight options shrink (photo: Zurich main station)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - European flights remain chaotic Tuesday morning 21 December, and there are now fears that the repercussions will continue to affect flights through Christmas. Among Tuesday’s announcements from airports and airlines: no flights are departing or arriving at Geneva’s Cointrin (update: still closed at 11:00). BA says that only half its Heathrow flights are operating (Gatwick and City flights are running, however), Duesseldorf in Germany is iced in, Frankfurt is closed due to fresh snow, after first cancelling 300 flights on the heels of cancellations for nearly 600 Monday. Brussels is accepting flights, but none are leaving, reports TSR, due to a shortage of de-icing liquid for the planes.
Trains are proving a difficult option as well, with a one-kilometre line forming at St Pancreas station in London for the Eurostar train, Swiss television TSR reports.
Background and contacts for airlines in Geneva / GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: BBC, Guardian, Le Monde (Fre) TSR (Fre), The Local, Germany
Expect rain, snow, wind and the occasional ray of sunshine in the Lake Geneva region, 7-12 December
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Expect warmer weather, then rain, then a sudden cold spell followed by snow down to the plain in the next five days: the forecast is for Lake Geneva area weather is changeable, according to MeteoSwiss, with a bit of everything. Check GenevaLunch for daily updates from the national weather service.
The region is, at least briefly, mostly back to normal after snow turned to rain, causing icy conditions everywhere. Hardest hit were the mountain areas where roads turned very slippery, with several accidents in the Jura-Neuchatel hills. The St Bernard tunnel and Simplon, two main north-south truck traffic routes that generally remain open, were closed Sunday night and Monday morning due to heavy snowfalls followed by icy conditions.
Wintry winds will blow in Jura, Alps
Strong winds will pick up and are likely to be around 100 kph in the Jura and Alps starting Tuesday afternoon, reaching their height Wednesday.
Take care with your umbrella Thursday if you’re near Lake Geneva. Strong winds will blow around the lake Thursday, from 50-100 kph.
Temperatures will fall Thursday
Geneva and Lausanne will have a temperature range of 4-9C Tuesday 7 December, while in Sion, where temperatures are often slightly higher in winter, the forecast is for 1-7C. Temperatures will drop rapidly Thursday and remain cold, with -1C to 2C in Geneva and -3C to 2C in Sion, with temperatures in main Alpine resorts colder: Zermatt is expected to have -7C with highs of -1C.
Rain, then snow again
Rain or snow are forecast in western Switzerland up to the weekend, but with warm temperatures until Thursday the snow line has moved up to 1900m. When the cold front moves in Thursday, snow could fall on the plains, although Valais is expected to have little or no snow Thursday and Friday, with cloudiness alternating with sunshine.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in Geneva were busier than usual Tuesday 9 March, thanks to the high winds that swept through the Lake Geneva region and the coat of ice they left, especially along the lakefront.
Geneva police say the navigation police were called out when a 10-metre sailboat boat sank. They responded to another 40 calls for boats that looked at risk.
Two boat annex buildings sank under the weight of the ice and three more boats look close to sinking due to the weight of the ice accumulating on them. Police are asking boat owners to check on them.
Police warn that the lakefront has a solid coat of ice along the following quais: Wilson, Pâquis, Eaux-Vives, as well as all mooring areas. Pedestrians are warned to dress appropriately, in particular wearing adequate boots.
Ed. note: see the GenevaLunch photo gallery, 36 images of Tuesday’s ice along Lake Geneva, by Peter Brodbeck
Grindelwald, Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The annual snow sculpture contest in the Bernese Alpine resort of Grindelwald ends Saturday 27 January with awards being handed out in the afternoon. The American team says the Italian team is tipped to win, according to Jungfrau Zeitung, which carries a video and several photos as part of a feature story on the event. It adds that Canadians have a good chance as well, with the best track record, having won 8 of the past 28 contests. Ten national teams are entered. Event details on GenevaLunch
Update 21:20 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The proverbial sweet tooth could soon be replaced by sweet wheels in Switzerland, the kind that roll along sugar-covered highways. Authorities in canton Bern have confirmed that they have been using a liquid sugar-based product instead of salt on the A6 autoroute between Rubigen and Spiez, in a two-year test programme that is going well, canton Bern roads supervisor Martin Roesti told GenevaLunch.
The product being used is made by a British company, Safecote, and is manufactured in Italy. Parts of the US, Canada, Norway and Iceland use the liquid sugar on their roads. Switzerland is testing it, says Roesti, because at lower temperatures it is more effective than salt chloride. It is also less aggressive and doesn’t lead to potholes the way salt does.
The UK is being warned to prepare for more icy roads and freezing temperatures, with motorists being warned to stay home if possible. The bright note is that it should soon warm up but, reports the BBC, “More freezing conditions are forecast, before a weekend thaw threatens floods.”Meanwhile, the “Met” has come under fire for failing to predict early enough heavy snow that fell Wednesday 13 January, particularly in southwest Britain. Wales had drifts of up to 7 feet.
Links to other sites: BBC, Telegraph, UK Meteorology Office
Britain continues to suffer travel woes linked to cold, snowy, icy weather, with flights cancelled on the busiest travel day of the year, 23 December, trains suspended and icy road warnings out for much of the country, reports The Times, UK. The national weather service is forecasting improvements starting Christmas Day, 25 December. Meanwhile, Liverpool airport was forced to close, a Ryanair plane skidded off a runway but caused no injuries, and a record 116,000 motorists were helped by the Automobile Association.
Moon craters (photo: Nasa)
The moon definitely has water, US agency Nasa announced 13 November, describing preliminary findings of its lunar crater observation and sensing satellite (Lcross). The satellite “plunged” into a crater of the south pole of the Moon 9 October 200. The water was found in the crater, which is permanently in shadow, as part of a hunt for ice. Nasa says the discovery “opens a new chapter in our understanding of the Moon.”
Swis Jura, winter 2009, with heavy snow (photo: Shirley Curran)
Jura, Switzerland (24 heures, Fre)- Extreme weather over the course of winter caused 600-1,000 trees to fall along the base of the Jura mountains. Local loggers and forest services are closing off the dangerous areas and evacuating fallen trees to ensure that train lines are not at risk.
The Vaud forest service compares the damage to that of Lothar, the 1999 storm that swept across central Europe.
Click on image to view larger
Lausanne, Switzerland (LeTemps, Fre) - Organizers for the Red Bull Crashed Ice race in Lausanne underestimated the popularity of the event, expecting 20,000 spectators: a crowd of over 40,000 showed up 14 March to watch 105 racers, mostly retired hockey players, compete in a sport known as ice cross downhill.
Etoy, Vaud: snowy fields, orchards and A1 autoroute
Lake Geneva region (GenevaLunch) – It was hard to avoid the weather 17 February in the region: either you were out in it or everyone mentioned it, or both.
The media covered it: Le Temps, Tribune de Geneve, TSR, 20 Heures.
Snow, accidents, and slippery roads until daytime Wednesday 18 February, when the sun is expected to shine, with temperatures just above 0C: that sums it up.
Which came first, the skid marks or the sign?
Ed. note, French lesson: if you’ve read the articles in our links you’ll have seen the term tôles froissées several times. It does not mean fried rooftops or cold tolls. Translation: Minor accidents or fender benders.
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Snow has been bucketing down throughout much of Switzerland, with snow falling steadily throughout the Alps Sunday and picking up again early Monday morning. Canton Bern had 22 accidents between 17:00 and 05:00, reports 20 Minutes (Fre), with one woman losing her life in Thunstetten and three other people injured in other accidents.
Fechy, Vaud: snow on the plains
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Eastern and central Switzerland had overnight snowfalls of at least 10 cm down to the plain, causing accidents and slowing down traffic. In the Lake Geneva region, a truck spun out of control on the A1 autoroute near the Belmont accident, 20 Minutes reports.
Title: Karting on ice (Ice karting)
Location: Patinoire Vernet
Link out: Click here
Description: Ice karting the new craze to hit the ice.
Date: 13 Nov 2008
