3.1 degrees above normal: Switzerland experienced the second warmest October since measurements began

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After the warmest September, Switzerland will record the second warmest October in 2023 since measurements began in 1864. The first half of the month was extremely warm with persistently good weather. Regionally, the warmest fourteen-day period occurred in October.

The national average temperature in October was 9.8 degrees, Meteoschweiz, the federal office for meteorology and climatology, announced on Monday. That is 3.1 degrees above the standard from 1991 to 2020. The October record of 10.4 degrees dates from 2022.

In Lugano TI, the month was the warmest on record, with 2.8 degrees above normal. Altdorf again achieved the record in October 2006 with 2.9 degrees of excess heat. At several locations with a series of measurements going back more than 100 years, October 2023 was only slightly below the previous record. Since the pre-industrial period of 1871 to 1900, October was 2.7 degrees warmer in 2023.

38 temperature records

In the first 13 days of October, 38 locations in Switzerland recorded temperature records. In many places there were summer days with temperatures above 25 degrees. Basel-Binningen alone had nine such days, Bern-Zollikofen five. The highest temperature was Comprovasco TI with 29.4 degrees on October 8.

Apart from a cold front with precipitation on October 3, the first half of the month was virtually precipitation-free. On October 14 and 15, rain and snow fell from 1700 meters above sea level.

Moist air caused heavy rainfall in western Switzerland and the southern side of the Alps from October 19 to 21. In the rest of Switzerland the 20th and 21st were wet. After October 22, variable weather conditions occurred, sometimes with strong west to south-westerly winds. At the end of the month the foehn moved through the valleys on the north side of the Alps. (SDA)

Source: Blick