Swiss records
Swiss records in terms of temperature, precipitation and wind are shown below.
Temperatures
| Warmest location | ||
| Locarno-Monti (TI) 367 m asl |
12.4 °C | average annual temperature 1981-2010 (1) |
| Lugano (TI) 273 m asl |
12.4 °C | average annual temperature 1981-2010 (1) |
| Coldest location | ||
| Jungfraujoch 3,580 m asl |
-7.2 °C | average annual temperature 1981-2010 (1) |
| Highest temperature | ||
| Grono (GR)** 382 m asl |
41.5 °C | 11 August 2003 |
| Lowest temperature | ||
| La Brévine (NE)* 1,048 m asl |
-41.8 °C | 12 January 1987 |
* The measurement series from La Brévine (minimum and maximum temperatures) was homogenised in 2011. In the process of doing so, it was found that the minimum temperature of -41.8 °C measured on 12 January 1987 would have been equivalent to -42.5 °C under today's measurement conditions. The difference is due to the transition, in October 1997, from the former manual system of measurements (in a measuring hut) to an automatic measuring system.
** At the time, the Grono measurement station was located on the slope a little way above the village, hence the slightly higher altitude than today's location. Current measurement conditions on the valley floor would have given a maximum daytime temperature reading of 40.5 °C in Grono on 11 August 2003.
Homogeneous means that any artificial changes in the data series have been eliminated. Artificial changes can be due to a number of things: In the past, many measuring stations had to be relocated at least once. As well, upgrades to more advanced measuring tools were unavoidable. Measured values may no longer be directly comparable before and after such changes in measuring conditions. Measured values from different time periods, including records, are therefore often only comparable with each other on the basis of homogeneous series of measurements. Current station relocations result in rehomogenisation. As a result, extreme values can change, because the old measured values are adjusted to the new measuring conditions.
Rain and snow
| Dryest location | ||
| Stalden-Ackersand (VS) 700 m asl |
545 mm | average annual precipitation 1981-2010 (1) |
| Wettest location | ||
| Säntis 2,502 m asl |
2'837 mm | average annual precipitation 1981-2010 (1) |
| Highest volume of rain |
|||
| in 10 minutes | Lausanne 601 m asl |
41.0 mm | 11 June 2018 |
| in 1 hour | Locarno-Monti (TI) 366 m asl |
91.2 mm | 28 August 1997 |
| in 1 day | Camedo (TI) 550 m asl |
455 mm | 26 August 1935 |
| in 2 days | Mosogno (TI) 760 m asl |
612 mm | 23/24 September 1924 |
| in 3 days | Camedo (TI) 550 m asl |
768 mm | 3 - 5 September 1948 |
| in 1 month | Camedo (TI) 550 m asl |
1,239 mm | April 1986 (1) |
| in 1 year | Säntis 2,502 m asl |
4,173 mm | 1922 (1) |
| Deepest snow | |||
| Säntis 2,502 m asl |
816 cm | April 1999 | |
| Greatest volume of snow |
|||
| in 1 day | Bernina Pass, 2,307 m asl |
130 cm | 15 April 1999 |
| in 1 day | Grimsel Hospiz, 1'980 m asl |
130 cm | 30 March 2018 |
| in 2 days | Bernina Pass, 2,307 m asl |
215 cm | 15/16 April 1999 |
| in 3 days | Weissfluhjoch 2,690 m asl |
229 cm | 13 - 15 February 1990 |
Homogeneous means that any artificial changes in the data series have been eliminated. Artificial changes can be due to a number of things: In the past, many measuring stations had to be relocated at least once. As well, upgrades to more advanced measuring tools were unavoidable. Measured values may no longer be directly comparable before and after such changes in measuring conditions. Measured values from different time periods, including records, are therefore often only comparable with each other on the basis of homogeneous series of measurements. Current station relocations result in rehomogenisation. As a result, extreme values can change, because the old measured values are adjusted to the new measuring conditions.
Heavy precipitation
The average of the highest precipitation sums over a specified period of a year provides information about the geographical distribution of heavy precipitation. This is shown in the following graph of one-day precipitation sums, in mm, (from 1961 to 2014).
The heaviest precipitation normally falls in Ticino, where the southern orographic effect is primarily responsible for the large amounts of rainfall. The peak amounts of rainfall found in the inner Alpine valleys, in particular, in the Rhone valley, are more modest in comparison. In the Swiss plateau, it is thunderstorms that are the main cause of heavy precipitation events, and it is unsurprising, therefore, that the heaviest precipitation in that region occurs primarily during the summer months.
Storms and wind
| In the mountains | ||
| Grand St Bernard | 268 km/h | 27 February 1990 (Hurricane Vivian) |
| In the lowlands | ||
| Glarus | 190 km/h | 15 July 1985 (thunderstorm) |
Homogeneous means that any artificial changes in the data series have been eliminated. Artificial changes can be due to a number of things: In the past, many measuring stations had to be relocated at least once. As well, upgrades to more advanced measuring tools were unavoidable. Measured values may no longer be directly comparable before and after such changes in measuring conditions. Measured values from different time periods, including records, are therefore often only comparable with each other on the basis of homogeneous series of measurements. Current station relocations result in rehomogenisation. As a result, extreme values can change, because the old measured values are adjusted to the new measuring conditions.