In 2024, a precipitation record has been broken in Switzerland

Week of storms on the planet. We count at least ten morts in Florida after the passage of the hurricane Miltonand it’s less serious than we feared. In the state where the sun shines, Milton became the fifth hurricane of the season, rarely seen in this region accustomed to three episodes of this type per year.

At the same time, the ex-hurricane Kirk swept the Old Continent. Becoming a “simple storm” as it approached Portugal and Spain, this disturbance caused spectacular flooding in Paris, as evidenced by the images of the flooded French National Assembly.

Broadcast continuously on TV channels, these sequences give the impression of a particularly rebellious nature. What is it really? “The hurricane season started rather timidly,” puts Vincent Devantay, from MeteoNews, into perspective.

Unlike the general public, who are especially struck by the severity of the impacts of these storms, “meteorologists evaluate the normality of a hurricane season by counting the number of episodes and, to a lesser extent, their intensity,” specifies the Swiss specialist.

This year, seasonal forecasts predicted around twenty hurricanes significant enough to be given a name in the Atlantic area. This is where they were formed Helene, Milton et Kirk.

In total, “we have twelve named storms this year. Three left their mark. Helenewhich swept Florida a few weeks ago, and now Milton et Kirk. At this point, the number of hurricanes is not exceptional at all; it is almost below average, since the hurricane season ends in November,” says Vincent Devantay.

Given the shocking images arriving from France this week, Switzerland has the impression of having fallen between the drops. “In terms of precipitation, there were locally 100 liters of water per square meter in Ticino, in a region accustomed to such accumulations. And the foehn episode in the Alps which accompanied the storm Kirk was also not marked by exceptional winds. We still observed gusts of 120 km/h in Meiringen and Altdorf,” specifies the meteorologist.

Good for tablecloths

What is exceptional this year in Switzerland is the cumulative precipitation. When we add the snow that fell at altitude last winter and the rains during the year, we see anomalies appear. “We have just experienced the wettest hydrological year since measurements began in certain regions of north-eastern Switzerland. The Säntis record, which dated from 1910, was for example beaten, with almost 4000 mm from 1^is October 2023 to September 30, 2024,” says Vincent Devantay, before reminding us that this is not bad news for everyone.

“There have been fewer people in the swimming pools, that’s for sure, but these record rains are also good news for the forests, where the trees and vegetation have suffered enormously from the heatwave in recent years. This is also good news for groundwater. Moreover, if you look around you, you will see that, even though there was a lot of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, there is still very good infiltration of this water. So, if we put aside the extreme episodes, notably in Valais, Gotthard or Graubünden, 2024 will have been a relatively good year for nature.

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Jocelyn Rochat worked for Le Nouveau Quotidien, Le Journal de Genève, L’Hebdo and Télétop Matin. He now writes in Le Matin Dimanche, the Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures. More info

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