SION, SWITZERLAND – The sun struggled to come out early Saturday morning in the Swiss Alps, and instead left a show of frosted trees and mountainsides while temperatures fell to -20 and lower above 2,000 metres. By 11:00 a light snow was still falling and the sun was out, creating spectacular scenery.
Swiss Alps, canton Valais, 4 February 2011
The path less taken, in this case through Valais pastures, is the one off-piste skiers love
Webcam from Crans-Montana at 11:35 Saturday: clearing skies, spectacular scenery and great snow conditions
Editor Ellen Wallace shot this view out her kitchen window Thursday night, dimpled snow lit by a farmer's tractor headlights - by morning there was an additional foot of snow and the surface was smooth and white
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Friday 14:30, 6 January: snow has been falling steadily and heavily in many parts of Switzerland for the past 36 hours, with Crans-Montana and other resorts recording 100cm of fresh snow at 3,000 metres in the past 24 hours.
Most resorts are closed due to very high winds and heavy snow.
Canton Valais police say they received 1,200 phone calls between 08:00 Thursday and midnight, with flooding and fallen trees as well as electricity out in some areas. St Niklaus in the Goms Valley was without electricity and phones for several hours.
Main roads in Valais remain open but local road-clearing services are pushed to their limits and side roads above about 1,000 metres are closed or not completely cleared in many areas.
The CFF rail company says most trains are running, but several smaller trains up to mountain areas are not running, including Montreux to Rochers-de-Naye, Aigle to Diableret, Martigny-Le Chable, the funiculaire from Sierre to Crans-Montana, several Interlaken lines (Murren, Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfraujoch) and the Valais-Bern train for cars is operating irregularly, with no stops at Goppenstein since the road between there and Goppel is closed.
Kloten airport had several delays due to and snow, but mid-afternoon Friday most flights are back on schedule. Geneva airport has not been affected by the weather in the rest of the country. Zurich and central Switzerland had winds up to 120kph, reports swissinfo.
The Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, WSL, has issued a bulletin showing the avalanche risk at 4/5 (high) in eastern Vaud, most of Valais and Graubuenden:
More en route, so don't put the shovels away yet (Valais, January 2012)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The weather people have given it a name already: winter storm Andrea is en route and we can expect snow down to 400 metres in the Jura and Lake Geneva regions.
Snow should fall down to the plain in canton Valais, with high winds in mountain areas.
The Jura can expect gusts of up to 180kph from Thursday morning to Friday.
Ski slopes are likely to be closed for much of Thursday and Friday due to high winds; check local conditions and openings. Alpine areas are likely to have 40-60cm of fresh snow before the weekend.
At 1,800 metres altitude in the Alps, there is no shortage of snow 22 December!
Dear fans of GenevaLunch,
Snow and more and more snow has had an impact on our ability to bring you the news this week, but weather and mountain pass roads permitting, we should be back on duty by late Thursday night.
Apologies for the unintended slowdown but when buildings carry more snow on their rooftops than they have building space underneath, the Internet doesn’t always work well!
See you tomorrow, when we’ll bring you up to date. And if all goes well we might even bring you our weekend winter sports and snow report tonight – one guarantee, there will be snow for Christmas. For details, stay tuned!
Rolle, Lake Geneva, 16 December 2011
GENEVA / ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Zurich airport is suffering major disruptions due to storms Friday evening 16 December and Geneva airport saw delays during the day, as winter blew into Switzerland with a vengeance.
Valais police are reporting several roads closed due to heavy snow, and the car/train link between Goppenstein and Kandersteg was closed Friday. Trees are down in several parts of Vaud, with one tree hitting three cars in Lausanne.
Joachim is the name of the storm that blasted its way across parts of the Jura and Bern Friday morning, bringing high winds and storms that churned up Lake Neuchatel.
Zurich airport reported some cancelled or delayed flights Friday morning, notably from Nice, London and Amsterdam, all affected by storms. By Friday evening Swiss was sending people to a “bad weather in Europe” page and Zurich airport was showing several flights cancelled or delayed, including Paris and London flights.
Geneva airport, which opened its new visitor center officially 16 December was only lightly touched, with some London flights cancelled and minor delays as the Lake Geneva region was drenched by winds and torrential rains.
The Swiss Institute for snow and avalanche danger has put most of canton Valais on a red alert (level 4) for avalanche danger. Postal cars on the Gampel-Steg and Blatten (Lötschen) line are not running because of the danger of avalanches.
Weather has also closed several regional train lines, including Rochers-de-Naye.
Lake Geneva at Rolle 16 December, looking towards Evian and the French Alps where the clouds are dumping snow
Drawing on the alpine vistas of the four valleys, Stephanie Noble brings her latest exhibition: “Between Summit and Sky,” to Verbier’s Nanuq Gallery. Meet the artist on 17 December 17 at 16:00.
Location: Nanuq Gallery, Route de verbier Station 51, 1936, Verbier, Suisse
Link out: http://www.stephanienoble.co.uk
Start date: 17 Dec 2011
End date: 7 Jan 2012
Swiss Alps downpour: the birds were happy
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Happy worm-hunting birds were the rare creatures outside Monday morning in Switzerland as rain, rain and more rain fell.
Traffic on a number of highways early Monday was slowed down by the soggy start to the week.
Switzerland was drenched, with the exception of parts of Ticino; the central and eastern parts of the country were given an orange alert Monday morning by the national weather service, MeteoSwiss, for heavy rainfall.
Some areas received up to 60mm of rain between Sunday night and Monday noon, with most areas getting 25-35mm.
The new downpour, the result of a cold front from the north, followed 80-110mm in some regions from Thursday to Sunday, ending a long dry spell in many areas, particularly in the Alps.
Another 10 to 20mm is likely to fall Monday afternoon on northern Alpine slopes, especially along the eastern stretch and northern Graubuenden.
The snowline, which was down to 1,200 metres Saturday, rose to 2,600 metres Monday as temperatures warmed up.
All parts of the country should see rain end by Monday evening.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – New Zealand is snowed under: meteorologists in the country say the snowfall since the weekend is the heaviest in decades but blizzards are winding down and the storms should be gone by Wednesday. Wellington and Auckland have had their first snow in decades, in Auckland’s case the first snow in 7 years with record low temperatures, and services are cut in many areas, with electricity out, airports and roads closed.
Fast food stores that told workers their pay would be docked because they didn’t turn up for work due to the storm are under fire from unions.
Less snow than usual for the Swiss 2010-11 winter, but enough to provide some fun: Corvatsch, St Moritz in canton Graubuenden
NEUCHATEL, SWITZERLAND – The continuing strength of the Swiss franc is having repercussions on the tourism industry, figures released Monday 6 June by the Swiss Statistical Office show, but the dip is slight.
The winter season saw a decline in numbers, down 0.7 percent or 114,ooo overnight stays compared to the previous year, but the lack of snow may have played as much of a role as the strong franc. The winter season, which runs from November to April, saw 15.8 million overnight stays in Switzerland.
Tourism, measured by overnight stays, was up by 0.8 percent, or 118,000 stays in April, compared to the same month the previous year. Visits by Swiss tourists rose by 2.3 percent while the number of stays by foreigners fell by 0.4 percent.
The overall figures hide some significant differences, with Chinese tourists up 59 percent, an increase of 15,000 overnight stays, to some extent making up for the loss of 45,000 overnight stays by Germans, a drop of 9.5 percent.
The bfu's campaign helped to increase the number of helmet-wearers on Swiss slopes (photo ©2011 Tara S. Kerpelman)
The Swiss snow sports safety campaign, “1,000 accidents a day – protect yourself with a helmet,” has received good marks: an evaluation by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) says the 2007-2010 marketing campaign was an overall success.
The percentage of people wearing helmets while skiing or snowboarding went up from 52 to 76 percent between 2007 and 2010, over the course of the campaign.
The bfu partnered with the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) and Rega (Swiss air rescue) for the campaign. It argued that the main reasons skiers and snowboarders did not wear helmets were they were not conscious of the dangers involved, they thought they were not vulnerable to the dangers, or they found that helmets were too uncomfortable to wear.
The report says the campaign reduced the number of people who fit into these categories.
The increase was smaller in French-speaking Switzerland, where it went up more than 16 percentage points, than in German-speaking areas, where the increase was greater than 26 percent, the report says.
Change in the percentage of people wearing helmets (source: bfu.ch)
There was more familiarity with the bfu’s campaign over time: only 47 percent of those surveyed in 2008 had heard of the campaign but this rose to 69 percent by 2010, with a slightly more significant increase in the 18 to 25 age group, 69 percent in 2010, up from 46 percent in 2008.
The campaign was probably not the only or even main reason for the increase in helmet-wearers, the report says, but it notes that the bfu’s efforts supported and reinforced the other reasons.
These probably include more celebrities and sports stars seen with helmets and, over time a generation, following the example of those who are older who have begun to wear helmets.
Snow has been falling at higher altitudes, although not in great quantities, as on the road to the Simplon Pass 14 March
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Blue skies and 10C in Geneva Friday morning 18 March make it hard to use the word “winter” but resorts are still open and the snow remains decent to good in most areas.
Weather forecast, snow conditions, avalanche warnings
Highs of 10C around Lake Geneva, 14C in Valais for the weekend, with occasional cloudiness, but mostly sunny, turning sunny for the start of next week. Snow down to 900 metres in cooler areas, which could give the Jura a final spring covering on the slopes. Details, Meteosuisse (Fr)
MySwitzerland’s snow conditions report indicates that it has snowed in several resorts in the past 24 hours, although in most places, such as Crans-Montana, the snowfall above the resort was 10cm.
The avalanche warnings are at level 3, “considerable” throughout all mountain areas: warm late winter days are the peak time for them. The national avalanche institute notes that “The old snowpack is thoroughly wet in all expositions below 2000 to 2200 m. Particularly on west to north to east facing slopes, the old snowpack is prone to triggering.” Even north-facing slopes below 2,200 metres are at risk where steep slopes have not yet discharged, it says.
Hikers are starting to walk in the mountains, thanks to the warm weather and low snowfall this winter which means many areas are clear of snow. Use caution: a man died near St Luc Friday 17 March after slipping on ice and then sliding 100 metres, while on a mountain walk.
Resorts news
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.
Some people just shovel the snow out of their way, while others go out of their way to shovel the snow into something useful. One father in Lake Tahoe, Nevada spent 80 hours shoveling his snow into a mini snow park. Cool!
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A young lion dashing through the snow at the zoo in Zurich was frozen by photographer Tambako on flickr. Children will be doing a lot of this in the coming week, with school holidays at their peak in Switzerland. Happily for skiing families, some fresh snow is expected, mainly in western Switzerland, starting Sunday.
Related stories, weekend winter sports report 18-20 February and Swiss mountain roads: time to know the rules
Tambako’s big cats photo collection, mainly from Basel and Zurich zoos, includes several hundred of the zoos’ lions.
photo, ©2011 Tambako, flickr.com/photos/tambako/
Flights rail service are disrupted in the area around Miyazaki, some 1,000km south of Tokyo, the largest town near Mount Shinmoedake, at the southern tip of Japan. The volcano began erupting 27 January and scientists say they have no idea how long it will go on or how fierce it will be, but Thursday 3 February it sent up a 1.5km-high plume of smoke. There have been no major injuries but as a precaution the area around the volcano has been cut off to prevent the curious from approaching it.
These eruptions are the largest in 50 years for the volcano, part of whose claim to fame is to have figured in the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”.
Meanwhile, troops are being deployed to the city of Uonuma, in Niigata Prefecture along the western seaboard of Japan, which is in danger of avalanches from the four-plus metres of snow that have recently fallen there.
Links to other sites: Japan Times, NPR
Australians hold their breath as Cyclone Yasi nears
It’s water in Queensland, but snow in the US: the latest storm, being called a megastorm by some, cut a north-south path that stretch down to Texas and up past Chicago, a city accustomed to snow that nevertheless saw its two airports shut down. NPR reports that some 6,000 flights were cancelled across the country, with American Airlines alone canceling 1,900, nearly half of its daily schedule. Snow and wind are causing problems, but the biggest worry is the damage that can be caused by ice storms, which have struck many areas. Power outages, falling trees and collapsing roofs are already being reported but another worry looms for TV sports addicts: will football’s Super Bowl go ahead as planned next Sunday? Dallas-Forth Worth Airport closed for an hour Tuesday due to the storm and the playing field was described as an ice rink by one newspaper that took an upbeat note: plenty of ice for Super Bowl parties.
Australia’s Queensland area faces what could be the worst cyclone in a century, reports the Sydney Morning Herald, with 296 kph winds. The storm has already ruined weather monitoring equipment on Willis Island, off Cairns, where the storm is expected to land, and its strength means it will be felt far inland. Residents have been told by authorities they will be on their own during the storm, with emergency services unavailable in order to protect their safety.
Links to other sites: Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star & Tribune
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Weather: glorious. Snow: not bad, inching up to good. Competition: some good shows on for spectators.
Topping the list this weekend, though, is surprisingly good snow reports from the Jura.
It’s also the second and final weekend of the hot air balloon show in Chateau d’Oex (see our report last week) and the weather looks more promising than last weekend, when strong winds kept them on the ground much of the time.
Hot-air balloons over Montbovon 24 January (photo ©2011 Keepps on flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/isg-online)
We have added a photo album of the world of beautiful hot air balloons from the festival in Chateau d’Oex but also balloons drifting above Montbovon, where the weather was more cooperative last week, to set your sites a little higher.
Weather forecast for Lake Geneva region, Alps and Jura
The Swiss national weather service, MeteoSwiss, has dealt us a great hand of weather cards, with sunshine and occasional clouds in the mountains, just below freezing at night and warming up to 5-7C in most of western Switzerland.
Slightly more cloud cover and weak cold bise winds around Lake Geneva, with clouds sitting below 1,000 metres.
Swiss and neighbouring France resorts report
Jura skiing, from Shirley Curran
Jura slopes (photo: Shirley Curran)
Where is everybody? The resort web site is not exaggerating when it announces that conditions on the slopes at Crozet/Lélex are very good. We have been skiing up there every morning this week. The neige de culture combined with bitterly cold weather and first-rate slope grooming means that there is a good cover on the main slopes that are open: the chairs and telecabines and one poma lift as well as all the lifts on the Crozet nursery slopes. Above the clouds the weather is superb and the slopes have been almost empty. Who could wish for more. Well, yes, we would all like more snow, but there is enough!
Check the openings, weather and snow conditions daily at Monts Jura, where the snow was described as “excellent” Friday evening.
Swiss and French Alps, skiing
The snow cover varies hugely, from none to very thin, even at 1,700-1,800 metres in Verbier and Crans-Montana, to good in Gstaad, at 1,100 metres, but the quality of the snow in most resorts is very good, thanks to continuing cold weather. You just have to go a bit higher for the snow.
Chamonix, in neighbouring France, is hosting World Cup ski races this weekend (see Competitions, below), so expect crowds and thrills on the difficult Verte des Houches. This is the likely area for the 2018 Winter Olympics ski races if Annecy wins the bid. The resort, which is actually four, is big enough to fit everyone and every winter sport, so if you’re more interested in sending yourself down slopes than watching the experts, you have plenty of options. A year ago, in January 2010, the four main villages in the valley became a federation of communes. One result is that the ski offer is clearer, from runs and jumps for hotshots to gentler skiing if you’re a family with beginners or wobbly-on-skis guests.
Chateau d'Oex 2011 Hot-ar Balloon Festival (photo, ©2011 Mr Kio on flickr)
Chateau d’Oex should have perfect conditions this weekend for the International Hot Air Balloon festival. If you’re driving from Geneva or Lausanne you can do a nice loop via Aigle in the car, going one way over the Col des Mosses, and the other via Diableret, since both are open.
Crans-Montana is hosting the Juniors World Championshiop in skiing 29 January to 6 February, a great chance to watch the world’s next generation of ski stars. The first race is the giant slalom, Sunday, ending with the super-G next Friday and Saturday. Complete programme
Verbier has a freeride fair 29-30 January, Saturday and Sunday, and one of the features is the chance to try out new equipment.
Competitions: skiing, mountaineering, free ride, figure skating and horses
Alpine ski races: men are at Chamonix and the women are racing at Sestrières, with both on TSR in Switzerland. Didier Cuche led the men during the training runs, which were marred by the second serious accident in a week that involved an Austrian skier.
The world men’s freeride races, six thrilling events during the season, move from Chamonix to Corvatsch in Engadine-St Moritz for this weekend, before leaving Europe. The final event of the season brings them back to Verbier. The French are leading the racers in snowboard and ski after Chamonix. An interesting twist is the first-ever telemark skier joining the races.
European figure skaters finish a week of competition in Bern
Tickets are still available for Saturday and Sunday’s exhibition show in Bern, for the European figure skating championships that have been running all week, 23-30 January. Ladies’ and Men’s freestyle events are on Saturday. A British professional photographer based in Helsinki, who works with the Finnish team, has been posting a series of beautiful images on flick: Tyke Tiler.
Zurich hosts major horse show
The Rolex FEI World Cup horse jumping is on this weekend in Zurich, with the series picking up after a four-week pause. World No. 1, Kevin Staut is one of the features. Tickets are available (suggestion: combine it with a visit to the amazing Picasso exhibit, which ends Sunday) or you can watch live on FEI television.
Information posted on earlier weekend snow and winter sports: check past posts for useful general information.
Click on images to view larger
Jura slopes (photo: Shirley Curran)
It’s only the end of January, midway through a New York winter, and the city of New York has already had more than twice the snow it usually gets during a winter. The 19 inches that fell Wednesday and Thursday broke a record dating back to 1925 for the most snow in January: 36 inches, or more than a metre, and more than 8 inches above the old record.
The northeastern US has been battered this week by heavy snows that have closed airports and schools throughout the region, and not for the first time this winter. Working parents, according to the Boston Globe, are particularly feeling the stress. The continuing heavy snows are causing a variety of problems, with a parking lot roof collapsing in Boston and trapping two men, who were not injured, while in New York some people found their snowplows blocked inside their garages and the city suspended its rule of alternative side of the street parking. State Regent exams were cancelled and schools didn’t open for only the 9th time in 33 years.
Links to other sites: Boston.com, Huffington Post, New York Daily News
Raw video, AP
Aerial Photo of Davos, the Alpine Host City of the World Economic Forum, captured before the Annual Meeting 2011 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2011. Davos is in the middle of Swiss Alps and the city for holidays, sports, congresses, health, development and culture. (photo ©2011 World Economic Forum/swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - All eyes switch to Davos, as the offices of the host, the World Economic Forum in Geneva, empty out for the annual meeting of business and political leaders at the Swiss resort in canton Graubuenden.
Newspapers and magazines are filled with Davos “news” which so far consists mainly of journalists’ descriptions of the pretty road or train ride from Zurich airport to the hills of Davos, where it has been snowing.
Some essential and non-essential Swiss facts about Davos:
- The theme for 2011 is “Shared Norms for the New Reality”. This officially covers four topics: Responding to the New Reality; The Economic Outlook and Defining Policies for Inclusive Growth; Supporting the G20 Agenda; Building a Risk Response Network. Unofficially, it is likely to include anything and everything on people’s minds, from wiki leaks to unemployment and elections and revolutions in Africa.
- Swiss military forces are spending CHF1.5 million and putting 4,000 soldiers on the ground and in the air to protect and help the 2,500 guests at the forum. They’re using 18 km of protective barriers and 1,000 kg of sand to ensure helicopter landing pads and trains no matter what the weather. Media people make up 420 of the foreign visitors, with 80 Swiss journalists.
- Bilateral agreements are likely to be on the agenda at meetings between the Swiss minister for the economy, Johann Schneider-Ammann, and German Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Josef Pröll, and French Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Christine Lagarde.
- Those talks might make more headlines in Europe but of greater interest to Swiss business people is the meeting between Schneider-Ammann and Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming 28 January, which will launch the negotiations on a free trade agreement between Switzerland and China.
The cost? Starting point is a little over CHF50,000 for membership in the forum, a must if you want to be invited to the Davos party, but the real cost is staggeringly higher for most people attending, according to the New York Times, which ends by noting that this is likely to change, as the appeal of Davos begins to fade (Ed. note: I was told the thing 15 years ago by tow people who attended, but the appeal of Davos appears to have held).
Alpine horns greet guests at the new convention centre in Davos (photo ©2011 World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch/Photo by Michael Wuertenberg)
Here is what some international media in English were saying about the mega-meeting in the run-up, before a suicide bomber in Russia and street demonstrations in Egypt made last-minute deadlines: Economist, The Globe & Mail, Guardian, New York Times, Telegraph, Economic Times of India
2010 equal to 2005 and 1998, confirms global warming trend
Extreme weather events listed but no direct link made
Australian desert (photo: ©2010 Peter Brodbeck, flickr)
(video, El Niño, La Niña) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Those who thought 2010 was hotter than usual were right: it was one of the warmest years on record, sharing the top hot slot with 2005 and 1998, the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) said in Geneva 20 January.
But if you were sitting in Scandinavia or the eastern US in December 2010 you’ll be right in thinking you’ve just experienced exceptional cold, with parts of Norway and Sweden having temperatures -10C below normal.
Eastern Canada and Greenland had unusually warm weather in December, however.
Higher temperatures did not affect the world evenly, but 2010 was exceptionally warm in much of Africa, southern and western Asia, Greenland and Arctic Canada, “with many parts of these regions having their hottest years on record” since the start of what the WMO calls instrumental climate records.
Greenland's snow and ice suffered from unusually warm weather in Decembe 2010
“The 2010 data confirm the Earth’s significant long-term warming trend,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a statement. “The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998.”
The WMO is a United Nations organization that provides a place where member states’ national weather and meteorological services work together.
Arctic sea-cover at all-time low in December
Devastating floods in the Rio de Janeiro region in Brazil continue to take a high toll, with the number of deaths now well above 400 and expected to rise as rescuers find more bodies. Some 14,000 people are homeless and the country’s new president, Dilma Rousseff has promised US$400 million in aid to clean up and rebuild.
In other extreme weather news, Brisbane and the Queenlands area in Australia fear more rain is on the way, with a cyclone building up offshore while the massive damage from high waters of the past two weeks is assessed. Reuters reports that 12,000 homes have been destroyed and 118,000 buildings are without electricity. The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland 10 January confirmed that the heavy rains are part of the La Nina weather pattern.
In the Boston area and much of the rest of the northeastern US, heavy snows are threatening again, but schools and airports have re-opened after being closed for two days while the area dug itself out.
Links to other sites: Boston.com, Los Angeles Times, Reuters
Video, Boston.com
More snow!
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Christmas snow has begun to fall steadily, and up to 10cm are expected on the plain, with 20cm at higher altitudes, but early afternoon 24 December showed relatively few signs of the winter weather snarls neighbouring France and Germany are experiencing. Geneva’s Cointrin Airport recommends that travellers arrive at least two hours before departure for all flights, given that up to 56,000 passengers are expected on Sunday, with traffic building up from the 20,000 travellers handled by the airport on a normal day.
Flights, trains and road traffic in France are all snarled by fresh snow on Christmas Eve day, throughout the country, with repercussions in neighbouring countries. Flights from Paris to Switzerland in the early afternoon were cancelled, although some later flights are still displayed as operating. Train stations are expected to handle some two million people over the Christmas weekend, with 800,000 Friday 24 December alone. Areas along the eastern borders with Germany and Switzerland as well as mountain regions further south are on orange alert for icy, snowy roads. Traffic at noon Friday was disrupted particularly in the Calais area and Charles-de-Gaulles Roissy
German train service was disrupted between Berlin and Hannover for several hours late Thursday when lines were iced over, stopping five intercity trains for five hours. Rail delays are expected to continue throughout Friday. Germany has also seen several highway accidents due to ice, with North Rhine Westphalia recording 1,734 accidents in 24 hours, according to The Local, Germany. A 24km tailback was formed, heading into Munich, after a spectacular pileup that involved 51 vehicles on the A9 motorway.
Belgium is also experiencing traffic problems due to snow, with flights from Brussels airport delayed and in some cases cancelled.
Roads in the UK are mostly cleared, according to the Guardian, allowing motorists a chance to get away for Chistmas, but it points to a reminder from the Automobile Association that stopping takes 10 times longer on icy, snowy roads than under normal conditions, so leave plenty of space between cars.
Links to other sites: Geneva Airport departures and arrivals, Guardian, UK, Le Monde (Fre), The Local (Ger), TSR (Fre)
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
Geneva: weather looking up for travellers, but it remains changeable Saturday 18 December
Update Satuday 18 December 08:30 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – UK travellers alert: Easyjet has cancelled all flights to and from Gatwick until at least 10:00 Saturday, due to bad weather in the UK. BA has cancelled some 50 short-haul flights. Geneva-Munich flights are also affected by bad weather, with cancellations and delays. Geneva Cointrin Airport flights/arrivals.
In Geneva, scheduled flights were still showing delays Friday evening 17 December at Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, with flights scheduled to arrive from London before 18:00 re-scheduled to arrive at 23:00.
An evening flight from Lisbon, Portugal will arrive Saturday morning, part of the chain reaction of delays and re-scheduling throughout Europe after snow Thursday night and early Friday.
The airport in Geneva has issued an online certificate for anyone who needs it, stating that the airport was closed for meteorological reasons.
Weather forecast for Saturday from MeteoSwiss: changeable, highs around 0C, drier with occasional sunshine.
Snow hit the region Thursday night; by 09:00 Friday blue skies appeared at the north end of Lake Geneva
"You can go in, maman, but I'm staying outside to play (09:00 Friday, lakeside village of Saint Prex)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva airport was closed early Friday morning 17 December due to snow, but is re-opening at 09:30, with some delayed flights.
French schools in Ain are open (note correction) but there is a ban on school buses on the road, with up to 30cm of snow in some areas and slippery roads in general. School holidays begin in France later today and authorities are warning drivers leaving on vacation to use caution.
The snow settled down to some serious blanketing work about 22:00 Thursday evening, and kept at it most of the night. Lausanne in particular had traffic problems due to icy roads on hillsides.
For information about the airport, check the Geneva Cointrin flights page, but it is quickly overloaded when the airport is closed, so an option is to register for mobile phone news alerts, available in English as well as French and German. Contact your airline (list, with phone numbers) for specific flight information.
The snow is expected to continue this morning, slowing by early afternoon throughout the Lake Geneva region, but continuing in Valais. Temperatures will hover around 0C in Geneva and Lausanne, but highs in mountain resorts will be -8C.
International sports, American football
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (GenevaLunch) – The biggest snowfall in Minnesota since 1991, with 43 cm of fresh snow, nearly two feet, caused the inflatable roof of the Metrodome to collapse about 05:00 Sunday. The Metrodome is home to the several sports teams, including the Minnesota Vikings. Their game with the New York Giants was postponed to Tuesday 14 December and moved to Detroit after the Vikings found their flight diverted to Kansas City. The storm was followed Sunday afternoon by a wind chill advisory: the 7F/-14C temperatures are expected to have the impact of -15F.
The snow was accompanied by strong winds and gusts up to 64 kph.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, NFL video news, Star & Tribune (Minneapolis)
Frankfurt flights cancelled as heavy snow moves into city Thursday, Luxembourg passengers also stranded by snow
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Weather in the centre of Europe remains capricious, with Paris recovering from an unexpectedly heavy snowfall Wednesday 8 December and Frankfurt airport now cancelling most flights. What the forecasters called a “light snow shower” is turning out to be a heavier one. Meanwhile, the Jura, which enjoyed deep snows last weekend, and the Swiss Alps, which are mostly covered in a thin layer of white stuff, are waiting for their turn.
Luxembourg flights are being delayed, also due to snow.
Frankfurt is a main international hub for Swiss flights, so the cancelled flights between the German city and Geneva and Zurich is leading to several cancelled events, including a presentation by a delegation from the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park to the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Friday. Their flight was cancelled and all others are full, the chamber reports.
Champion Xavier de la Rue during the Xtreme events in Verbier, a centre for winter extreme sports, for competitors and tourists
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss parliament has taken 10 years to work out federal legislation, but in future tourists visiting the country who want to do extreme sports will have guides who are certified to work throughout the country, not just in one canton.
A rafting accident in 1999 that killed 21 people in canton Bern led to the legislation, which was finalized Thursday morning 9 December. Companies that offer extreme sports, which including canyoning, rafting, bungie-jumping and several winter extreme sports, have been working with cantons to improve safety conditions and develop certification at that level. Seven cantons currently offer certification and, according to TSR, 60 percent of companies in Switzerland are already certified.
Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Travelchannel, My Switzerland and tourism office in Lake Maggiore,
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The cold front from the northwest that is expected to abruptly end the Lake Geneva region’s three-day warm spell starting Thursday night has taken a foothold in France, notably in Paris. Buses, regional trains and many Metro lines have virtually stopped running, airports have offered spotty service, traffic is snarled and even the Eiffel Tower, famously open year-round, has closed under a cloak of invisibility.
TGV service between Paris and Switzerland is still running, but the Paris-Basel-Zurich evening train is 1 hour 20minutes late. For CCF rail traffic updates, the French version tends to have the latest details before the English version.
Links to other sites: AFP, Le Monde offers a TV telezapping view of the crippled French capital and region around it.
Télézapping : La neige engloutit la Tour Eiffel
envoyé par lemondefr. – L'info internationale vidéo.
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.
