2016 among top ten hottest years in Switzerland
The Local - [email protected]
Published: 23 Dec, 2016 CET.
Updated: Fri 23 Dec 2016 11:51 CET
The past year was one of the ten warmest since Swiss records began in 1864, according to MeteoSuisse.
As a whole the year was 0.6-0.7 degrees warmer than normal across Switzerland, the federal weather office said in its round-up of the year's weather, earning 2016 a place in the top ten mildest years on record.
The year started with a particularly mild winter, with snow and cold temperatures not arriving until mid-January.
The average temperature over the three months of last winter (December 2015 to February 2016) was 2.5 degrees warmer than normal, said MeteoSuisse, the second mildest since 1864 and just below the warmest ever winter of 2006/07.
The city of Bern recorded 16.4 degrees on one day at the end of February, the fifth highest for that month since 1864, it said.
Spring was exceptionally rainy, causing flooding in many parts, but temperatures fell within the normal range.
When summer finally started, it was a hot one, with record temperatures in some parts during the heatwave of August 25th to 31st. In Geneva the mercury reached 33.5 degrees, a record for that time of year.
The heat persisted well into autumn, with the first two weeks of September being the hottest on record. The month as a whole was 2-3 degrees hotter than normal in many parts of Switzerland.
Temperatures dropped sharply in October, and early snow in November allowed some ski resorts to open earlier than planned. However an extended period of foehn wind in late November and anticyclone conditions in December have meant hardly any fresh snow has fallen since then.
Switzerland’s temperatures are in line with the global trend, with 2016 set to be the hottest year on record across the world, the World Meteorological Organization said in November.
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As a whole the year was 0.6-0.7 degrees warmer than normal across Switzerland, the federal weather office said in its round-up of the year's weather, earning 2016 a place in the top ten mildest years on record.
The year started with a particularly mild winter, with snow and cold temperatures not arriving until mid-January.
The average temperature over the three months of last winter (December 2015 to February 2016) was 2.5 degrees warmer than normal, said MeteoSuisse, the second mildest since 1864 and just below the warmest ever winter of 2006/07.
The city of Bern recorded 16.4 degrees on one day at the end of February, the fifth highest for that month since 1864, it said.
Spring was exceptionally rainy, causing flooding in many parts, but temperatures fell within the normal range.
When summer finally started, it was a hot one, with record temperatures in some parts during the heatwave of August 25th to 31st. In Geneva the mercury reached 33.5 degrees, a record for that time of year.
The heat persisted well into autumn, with the first two weeks of September being the hottest on record. The month as a whole was 2-3 degrees hotter than normal in many parts of Switzerland.
Temperatures dropped sharply in October, and early snow in November allowed some ski resorts to open earlier than planned. However an extended period of foehn wind in late November and anticyclone conditions in December have meant hardly any fresh snow has fallen since then.
Switzerland’s temperatures are in line with the global trend, with 2016 set to be the hottest year on record across the world, the World Meteorological Organization said in November.
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