October 2022 will go down in history as the warmest since measurements began in 1864. According to MeteoSwiss, the average temperature in Switzerland was 3.8 degrees warmer.
Saturday coincides with the hottest days of October. According to MeteoSwiss, 25.4°C in Zweisimmen (BE) and 25.3°C in Ebnat-Kappel (SG). In Fahy, Jura, the mercury soared to 25.1°C. In Hörnli (ZH), with 23.6 °C, October has not been so warm in more than 30 years.
The Meteorological Center’s measuring station on Mount Basel St. Crissona also recorded 24.7 degrees Celsius. Göschenen (UR) recorded 24.3°C.
With warm air, dust from the Sahara has arrived in Switzerland, SRF Meteo wrote on Twitter. Decreased vision. On Friday, La Tole peak, 1,677 meters above sea level, recorded a record in Watt province: 13.3 °C, or 12 °C above normal.
Summers are particularly long in the Jura. According to SRF Meteo, by early Friday afternoon, it was already 25.5°C in Fahy and 26.6°C in Mervelier. The mercury even rose to 27.4 degrees Celsius in Telemont after 3:00 pm.
As for the temperature, this is not an achievement. On October 7, 2009, 29.4°C was measured in the Jura capital, recalls Urs Graf, meteorologist at MétéoSuisse, interviewed by Keystone-ATS. However, the second half of October has never been so hot.
Normally 12 degrees Celsius
Very mild temperatures were recorded at higher altitudes on Friday, such as 24°C in St. Crissona near Basel or 23.8°C in Gossenen (UR). On the plateau, the temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius, Urs Graf said.
Although these are not absolute records for October, conditions are still exceptional with many places seeing 23 or 24 degrees Celsius. 12°C on October 28.
Friday’s weather follows the trend of the entire month. Temperatures ranged from 20 to 25 degrees in French-speaking Switzerland. On Monday, October 17, considered a historic day by the meteorological services, the mercury soared to 22.3 °C in Cordillery in the Bernese Jura, 21.9 °C in Evionnaz (VS) and 21.7 °C in Geneva-Cointrin. and 21.5°C in Fribourg. At 1000 meters above sea level, in La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE), it was over 20°C.
For Meteorologist Lionel Fontannaz of MeteoSwiss, this October will “go down in the history of weather”. “We had a summer semester, which was also unusual, and we are at the same pace”, said the expert, hitting the set at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Current temperatures correspond to summer days.
>> Read again: Switzerland had its second warmest summer since 1864
3.7°C above normal on average
MeteoSwiss told Keystone-ATS on Friday that the month’s record temperature surpassed the highest values ever recorded locally by one degree. This strong warming was caused by persistent westerly and southwesterly currents, which brought moderate winds towards Switzerland between 4 and 25 October.
>> Read More: October 2022: Heat records in view
Most of Switzerland is affected. In many places, monthly values were 3 to 4.5 degrees Celsius higher from 1991 to 2020, the Federal Bureau of Meteorology and Climatology said. On a national average, October temperatures were 3.7°C above the 1991–2020 normal. In the second place, October 2001, we see 3 degrees Celsius above normal.
From October 15 to 21, the average daily temperature ranged from 5 to 7 degrees Celsius, exceeding normal by 8 degrees Celsius. Under the influence of Föhn, the difference rose to 8 to 9 °C last Sunday. These summer temperatures explain extreme weather events, MeteoSwiss notes. They indicate warmer years in the future, with a shift in the norm toward warmer temperatures, explains Lionel Fontanas.
On the same note, MeteoSwiss recalls on Twitter that ten years ago snow had already appeared in October. Up to the plains of Switzerland rose under the white line. On October 29, 2012, snow depth records were also measured. As for this year, Lionel Fontanas believes that “it is still too early to make predictions about the winter.”
Interview by Fanny Zürcher/iar