Wind - MeteoSwiss

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Hazard category 5 (very severe hazard)

Possible impacts	Falling trees or entire groups of trees or sections of forest as well as electricity pylons and poles Severe damage to buildings Road, rail, water and air traffic disrupted or at a standstill Toppling of larger (empty) vehicles Securely anchored objects with a larger surface area, such as tents and scaffolding and unsecured objects such as garden furniture etc. can be blown over High waves on lakes, which wash over the banks or shores Electricity grid outages and failure of telephone networks for long periods of time and over widespread areas
Description of measurement and prognostic values	Top wind speeds in low to medium-altitude areas: >140 km/h Top wind speeds in higher-altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): >200 km/h

Possible impacts

Falling trees or entire groups of trees or sections of forest as well as electricity pylons and poles
Severe damage to buildings
Road, rail, water and air traffic disrupted or at a standstill
Toppling of larger (empty) vehicles
Securely anchored objects with a larger surface area, such as tents and scaffolding and unsecured objects such as garden furniture etc. can be blown over
High waves on lakes, which wash over the banks or shores
Electricity grid outages and failure of telephone networks for long periods of time and over widespread areas

Description of measurement and prognostic values

Top wind speeds in low to medium-altitude areas: >140 km/h
Top wind speeds in higher-altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): >200 km/h

Hazard category 4 (severe hazard)

Possible impacts	Falling trees Damage to individual buildings and roofs Restriction of road, rail, water and air traffic (e.g. road closures, delays or cancellations of trains, buses, planes and ferries) Toppling of securely anchored objects with a larger surface area, such as tents and scaffolding and unsecured objects such as garden furniture Electricity grid outages and failure of telephone networks due to fallen trees
Description of measurement and prognostic values	Top wind speeds in low to medium-altitude areas (incl. Foehn winds): 110-140 km/h Top wind speeds in higher-altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): 160-200 km/h

Possible impacts

Falling trees
Damage to individual buildings and roofs
Restriction of road, rail, water and air traffic (e.g. road closures, delays or cancellations of trains, buses, planes and ferries)
Toppling of securely anchored objects with a larger surface area, such as tents and scaffolding and unsecured objects such as garden furniture
Electricity grid outages and failure of telephone networks due to fallen trees

Description of measurement and prognostic values

Top wind speeds in low to medium-altitude areas (incl. Foehn winds): 110-140 km/h
Top wind speeds in higher-altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): 160-200 km/h

Hazard category 3 (significant hazard)

Possible impacts	Falling branches and individual trees Damage to individual roofs Lightly secured objects with larger surface areas, such as tents and scaffolding, can be blown over Some disruption to road, rail, water and air traffic Increased risk of road accidents owing to strong crosswinds at exposed points (e.g. bridges), especially for large vehicles Possible shutdown of ski lifts and cable cars
Description of measurement and prognostic values	Top wind speeds in low to medium-altitude areas (incl. Foehn winds): 90-110 km/h Top wind speeds in higher-altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): 130-160 km/h

Hazard category 2 (moderate hazard)

Possible impacts	Toppling of objects inadequately secured or free-standing objects Breaking of smaller branches Increased swell on lakes
Description of measurement and prognostic values	Stormy winds in low and medium-altitude areas (incl. Foehn winds): 70-90 km/h Stormy winds in higher altitude areas (>1600 m above sea level): 100-130 km/h

Hazards for lakes and airports

For warnings in respect of lakes and airports (so-called object warnings, except for danger level 2, the following applies:

Storm warning: Peak wind speeds of 25-33 kt
Storm warning: Peak wind speeds of >33 kt
Storm warning service fact sheet (german)

Recommendations for action

Recommendations during wind

Notes

The transition altitude between ‘low and medium altitudes’ and ‘higher altitudes’ is 1000 m above sea level for the Jura and the low-lying areas of the northern side of the Alps, and 1600 m above sea level for the Alps themselves as well as their southern side.

Description Warning thresholds (PDF, 756.3 kB)
Blogartikel: Der Sturmwarndienst auf Schweizer Seen (german)

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