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Hazard category 5 (very severe hazard)

Possible impacts	Trees, entire groups of trees or sections of forest as well as electricity pylons/poles may be blown over Buildings could be seriously damaged Road, rail, water and air travel may be disrupted or come to a complete standstill Large, empty vehicles may tip over Large, firmly secured objects such as tents or scaffolding as well as freestanding objects such as garden furniture may also be toppled or blown away by the wind High waves may break over the banks of lakes The power supply and telephone communications network may suffer outages over large areas and for long periods of time
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

Trees, entire groups of trees or sections of forest as well as electricity pylons/poles may be blown over
Buildings could be seriously damaged
Road, rail, water and air travel may be disrupted or come to a complete standstill
Large, empty vehicles may tip over
Large, firmly secured objects such as tents or scaffolding as well as freestanding objects such as garden furniture may also be toppled or blown away by the wind
High waves may break over the banks of lakes
The power supply and telephone communications network may suffer outages over large areas and for long periods of time

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	Branches may break off and trees may be toppled Individual roofs may be damaged. Lightly secured, large objects such as tents and scaffolding may be blown over Road, rail, water and air travel may be disrupted There is an increased risk of road accidents due to strong crosswinds
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	Branches may break off and trees may be toppled Individual roofs may be damaged Lightly secured, large objects such as tents and scaffolding may be blown over Road, rail, water and air travel may be disrupted There is an increased risk of road accidents due to strong crosswinds
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	Objects that are unsecured or inadequately secured may fall over. Smaller branches may break off.
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:

Strong wind warning: Peak wind speeds of 25-33 kt
Gale 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)
Sturmwarndienst auf Schweizer Seen - Starkwind- und Sturmwarnungen von MeteoSchweiz (PDF, 317.3 kB)
Blogartikel: Der Sturmwarndienst auf Schweizer Seen (german)

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