Hot review: We have already survived these heat waves
A heat wave from Africa is on its way to Switzerland. It will be hot next week in particular – and how. Up to 40 degrees! It’s not the first heat wave we’ve survived.
1. The warmest year: 2003 was the warmest year on Lake Geneva, in central Valais and in southern Ticino since data began to be recorded in 1864. According to a study, it was even the warmest year in Europe for 500 years.
2. The absolute record: On August 11, 2003, the absolute record of 41.5 degrees was measured in Grono in the canton of Graubünden. In the rest of Switzerland, temperatures remained above 33 degrees for twelve consecutive days from August 1st.
3. The highest mean of the daily maximum in 2003 was measured in Geneva over 14 days: 35.2 degrees. In Basel the 14-day average was 35 degrees, in Bern 33.4, in Lugano 33.0 and in Zurich 32.7 degrees.
4. Herald: Already in June and July before the ultra-hot August 2003, the 14-day mean values in certain regions were over 30 degrees. Days with maximum values of at least 30 degrees are considered hot days. A heat wave is not defined. Depending on the situation, five to ten consecutive hot days are considered a heat wave.
5. The name of the high that brought the 2003 heat wave: Manuela.
6. The absolute heat record for the north side of the Alps was reached on July 7, 2015 in Geneva. It was 39.7 degrees. However, this heat wave lasts “only” eight days.
7. According to Meteo News the summer of 2015 went down as the second warmest in the more than 150-year history of measurements.
8th. July 2015 was the hottest month since records began in most parts of the south of the Alps, in the Engadine, in Valais and in western Switzerland.
9. Almost everywhere in Switzerland, even more tropical nights were performed in 2015 than in 2003.
10 Two heat wave periods were recorded in 2015. The first from July 1st to 7th, the second from July 14th to 23rd.
11. In 2017, western and southern Europe were hit by heat waves both at the beginning of the summer and towards the end. The August heat wave was named Lucifer. As early as June, countries such as France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Portugal and Spain were hit by a heat wave.
12. The summer of 2013 was also relatively hot. At the transition from July to August, the maximum daily temperature in Geneva reached an average of 30.0 degrees over 14 days, in Basel 30.4 and in Lugano 30.8 degrees.
13. It can get worse: The summer of 1540 was so hot that there wasn’t a drop of water a meter and a half under some riverbeds. Wells that still expected water were monitored, and the liquid was only dispensed when the bell rang. People are looking for Roman coins in the dried-up Lake Constance. (SDA/jmh)