From arctic breezes and snowfall to high temperatures and deadly summer storms, it’s unlikely that anyone will miss 2024 because of its weather. Now, new data from MeteoSuisse has revealed the coldest, hottest, wettest, windiest and sunniest areas of the alpine nation this year.
Though 2024 is set to be the hottest year ever, that didn’t stop the mercury dropping in Switzerland. This year, the coldest day was on January 20, when temperatures of minus 28 degrees were recorded in Buffalora, Canton Graubünden. Even in Swiss cities and towns in the lowlands, conditions chillier than minus 10 degrees were recorded overnight.
Meteorologists explained that on the day, widespread snowfall was quickly followed by a high-pressure front and clear skies, turning the country into an ice box. However, the measurement is a far cry from the coldest day in Switzerland - that was the -41,8 degree reading reported in La Brévine Canton Neuchâtel on January 12, 1987.
By contrast, the hottest days of the year in Switzerland were reported in August. North of the mountains the temperature peaked in Basel, where a 35,4 degree high was recorded on August 24.
To the south, Biasca (Ticino) took the top spot, with a 36,4-degree day on August 11. Again, the measurement was a far cry from the hottest day in Switzerland ever on August 11, 2003, when the Graubünden town of Grono baked in a high of 41,5 degrees.
With climate change becoming ever-present in Switzerland, 2024 also saw the highest zero-degree limit ever. On August 10, you’d have to have gone to 5.099 metres above sea level to get temperatures below freezing.
For 2024, the sunniest parts of Switzerland were in central and southern Ticino, where over 2.000 hours of sunshine were reported. Sion (Valais) and the region around the ski resort of Zermatt followed closely behind.
The sunniest days in all of Switzerland were on July 8 and 9, when 15 hours of sunshine covered the Alps.
The windiest town in the country for 2024 was Altdorf. On March 29, the capital of Uri reported wind speeds of over 130 kilometres per hour. For the mountains, Gütsch saw 190 km / h winds on the same day.
Thanks to the storms of the summer, several rainfall records were smashed in Switzerland this year. It quite literally bucketed it down near Mendriso (Ticino) on July 7, when 226,9 millimetres of rain fell in just one day - around 23 buckets per square metre. In just 10 minutes on July 12, the same area received 37,1 millimetres of rain, securing the national record.
Finally, if you discount the mountains, the city with the most snowfall this year was Lucerne. On November 21, 42 centimetres of snow fell in the heart of central Switzerland, a new record for the region.