Severe weather warnings

Severe weather such as storms, heavy rain or snowfall can cause enormous damage. After every event of this kind, the media, the public and politicians discuss the official warnings. At the same time, private providers of weather services issue their warnings independently of the National Weather Service - a situation which can lead to confusion. How does MeteoSwiss warn when a potentially dangerous weather situation is expected? This page tells you more about it.

Severe weather warnings are an official service on behalf of the public. The Swiss Federal Law on Meteorology and Climatology states that the Confederation is in charge of issuing warnings where dangerous weather conditions are concerned. The Government has therefore commissioned the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss with this important task which is in the public interest. MeteoSwiss has been issuing severe weather warnings for decades.

MeteoSwiss has established a modern multi-level weather warning system over the last years. This has been achieved in close co-operation with partners such as civil defence officials and the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC). Warnings are transmitted over protected channels directly to the cantonal emergency services who are responsible for the planning and implementation of protective measures. This way MeteoSwiss ensures that warnings reach the relevant cantonal authorities any time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In the past years the warning system has proved efficient at various instances. MeteoSwiss issued timely warnings to the emergency services in August 2005 (intense and prolonged precipitation) and in late January and early March 2006 (heavy snowfall). In March 2006 a complete traffic standstill could be prevented. Once more the close co-operation between MeteoSwiss and official bodies of the Confederation responsible for avalanche and flood warnings proved successful.

Natural hazards can occur at any time. This is why highly qualified meteorologists at MeteoSwiss monitor weather developments around the clock. The team of about 80 forecasters base their work on meteorological observations, data gained by measurement networks, radar and satellite as well as on the information made available by global and high resolution regional numerical models.

After an in-depth analysis of the weather situation by these specialists, a decision is taken whether MeteoSwiss will issue a warning and which region it will concern. This decision is not always easy to reach and is never taken lightly, since both a non-existing as well as an unnecessary warning can have far-reaching consequences.

Depending on the nature and the extent of the expected severe weather event, a warning is issued for a large area - for instance if a hurricane like Lothar is about to hit - or for a limited area - if a strong "föhn" or heavy thunderstorms are imminent.

MeteoSwiss does not only issue warnings in severe weather situations, but also alerts when other phenomena such as strong winds on lakes, frost, heat and thunderstorms are predicted.

Whenever a severe weather warning is issued MeteoSwiss also provides information for the public in German, French and Italian. It can be accessed free of charge on www.meteoswiss.ch. Phone number 162 is another information platform in these situations. It is possible to install a SMS waking call which is activated every time a new up-date of the current weather warning is published.

MeteoSwiss offers all the information in connection with severe weather warnings to the Swiss media agencies, to the national TV and radio stations as well as to the private providers of weather services. However, these partners are under no obligation to transmit the information.

Severe weather warnings are up-dated at least twice a day, more often if there are considerable changes to the situation. When the event is over, there is usually an all-clear with an overview of the essential meteorological factors.

Over the decades MeteoSwiss has co-operated with its partners in establishing a framework for ever more accurate and useful warnings. A very high customer satisfaction testifies to the outstanding quality of MeteoSwiss warning services.

Thanks to private service providers the weather market has become more diverse. These days, the population can choose between different forecasts from different sources.

In a potentially dangerous weather situation, however, this diversity has its limitations. Divergent or even contradicting warnings can have a disorienting effect. The responsible authorities and the population end up being confused rather than being informed. The planning of protective measures becomes more difficult, the risk of harmful behaviour increases.

If and where competition in this sensitive area has to be limited is a political question which has to be solved on a political level.