Fire warnings issued in canton Vaud due to dryness
Farmers are watering fields early as animals are put out to pasture in Switzerland, in fields with slow growth due to dryness
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Temperature extremes are normal in April in Switzerland, with cool nights and warm days, but the week of 18 April promises to show off the phenomenon at its best, with cold and even frost in some parts of Switzerland early Monday, then temperatures rising to 22C.
Expect sunshine, with occasional clouds that won’t do more than provide a whiff of shade, throughout the week. Temperatures are expected to slowly climb, continuing Switzerland’s unususally dry and balmy month of April.
A few drops of rain are forecast in canton Valais starting Thursday, with expected highs of 24-25C, according to MeteoSwiss, the national weather service. Ed. note: keep abreast of forecasts on GenevaLunch’s MeteoSwiss weather pages.
Authorities in canton Vaud issued a rare spring public fire aert Friday, due to excessive dryness: it is now illegal to light a fire unless you are at least 10 metres from a wooded stretch. Valais has had an open-air fire ban since mid-March and Ticino has now banned open fires, with canton Graubuenden having a ban on fires near forests.
The national weather service notes that 2011 could well bypass 1976 as the driest year since records were started in 1870: Geneva will need more than 34cm of rain and Sion 44cm to avoid this.
