Many Swiss woke up to a white sight in their windows on Friday morning. The snow has for the first time of the season made its arrival in the plain in the night from Thursday to Friday. The French-speaking Plateau was the most affected, with 5 to 15 cm of snow.
It notably fell up to 15 cm in Friborg and 10 cm in Cossonay (VD), according to meteorological institutes. MeteoSwiss speaks of a “winter landscape in almost all of French-speaking Switzerland”, with another 6 cm in Geneva, 4 cm in Neuchâtel and 2 cm in Delémont.
In the Vaudois Jura, Longirod, 900 meters above sea level, recorded 12 cm of snow, according to MeteoNews. In general, the greatest quantities of white gold fell on the cantons of Friborg and Vaud. The quantities are on the other hand very modest east of Zurich, while Glarus and Chur were not affected.
Road and rail traffic disrupted
Meteorologists urge caution on the roads. The Bernese cantonal police in particular had recorded a hundred traffic accidents at the end of the morning. She was aware of seven people with minor injuries. The Bernese Oberland and the agglomeration of Bern were less affected than the rest of the canton.
In the canton of Lucerne, a van left the road in Roggliswil and ended up on its roof, rolling down a slope for 20 meters, cantonal police said. Its two occupants got away without major injuries.
The snow also “severely disrupted” traffic at Vallée Verte and Bardonnex near Annemasse and Geneva, said the Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc (ATMB) group. The A41 and A410 motorways north of Annecy, towards Geneva, have been prohibited for heavy goods vehicles.
Several tree falls on the tracks or on infrastructures led to traffic interruptions, in particular between Annemasse and Evian, Bellegarde and Annemasse or Bellegarde and Geneva, indicated the SBB and the SNCF.
Not unusual for the season
These flakes are not unusual at this time of year, recalled Christophe Salamin, meteorologist at Meteosuisse, in La Matinale. “On December 1, 2009, there was 30 cm in Geneva. Last year in Les Mosses (VD), there was the snowfall record for this time of year.”
The flakes will fall continuously until mid-morning, before turning to rain-snow below 600-700 meters. Rarer in the plain, the snowfall will then be concentrated along the Pre-Alps and in the Alps. Fresh snow is expected again down to low altitudes during the day on Saturday, before the sun returns on Sunday and Monday.
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