Severe weather Intense rainfall subsides - federal government lifts warnings
The situation in Switzerland has calmed down after storms and heavy rainfall early on Saturday. The federal government lifted the warnings for intense thunderstorms. It had previously rained particularly heavily in Ticino. No major damage was initially reported.
13.07.2024, 01:40
13.07.2024, 07:26
SDA
The police and fire department in the canton of Ticino did not have to deploy due to the weather on Saturday night, a spokesperson for the Ticino cantonal police told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Heavy rainfall had previously been forecast.
The regional command post for the Maggia Valley lifted the evacuations from the danger zones there at 06:00. It announced that no further events had occurred that would justify the measure.
In Magadino TI, 37.1 millimetres of rain fell in ten minutes during thunderstorms on Friday. This was the third-highest value in Switzerland since measurements began, as reported by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) on the X platform on Saturday night. The wind swept over the municipality near Locarno at 106 kilometers per hour.
Wind speeds of 116 kilometers per hour were measured on Monte Generoso, as the MeteoSwiss graphic showed. Winds of 118 kilometers per hour or more are considered a hurricane.
Damage on Friday
Trees fell on roads in several places during the day due to strong gusts of wind, as a spokesman for the Ticino cantonal police told the Keystone-SDA news agency. There were no serious incidents and no one was injured.
Among other things, a tree blocked the emergency lane on the A2 highway between Coldrerio and Mendrisio, as the Touring Club of Switzerland (TCS) wrote on X. Boat moorings were destroyed in Riva San Vitale. Boats were damaged near Lugano. In Camorino near Bellinzona, storms and hail damaged crop fields and greenhouses.
Moderate risk of flooding on rivers
Between Thursday afternoon and Friday evening, 40 to 80 millimetres of precipitation fell in some areas in central and southern Ticino and locally up to 94 millimetres in Mendrisiotto, according to the federal government. In Misox, Bergell and Oberengadin GR, the Confederation recorded 25 to 50 millimetres of rain.
In other areas, it rained much less heavily than forecast. No heavy rainfall is expected for the weekend.
There was still a moderate risk of flooding on numerous rivers. This danger existed for Lake Lugano, Lake Brienz and Lake Geneva. According to MeteoSwiss, there was still a considerable risk of flooding on Lake Constance.
