Foehn storms will bring large amounts of dust particles to central Europe until Easter Monday. Austria was also affected.
Warm southerly winds bring large amounts of fine sand from the Sahara to central and southeastern Europe for several days. On Saturday, large parts of Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany were affected. Instead of sunshine, it was somewhat dark like November.
A storm warning has been issued for parts of Austria throughout the Easter weekend. Parts of Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg were particularly affected, but further east in Bongau, Lungau and Upper Styria strong winds were also expected. “This Saturday peaked,” said Geosphere's expert what. Until then 1,200 milligrams of Saharan dust per square meter were in the air.
Switzerland: Twice as much dust in the air as normal
According to the forecaster's model calculations, clouds hung only in Switzerland on Saturday 180,000 tons of Saharan dust in the air This is an extraordinary amount. Usually the wind brings half of Switzerland. The stormy weather is expected to weaken slightly until Easter Monday Stop.
The elevators had to be closed
Lifts in some Swiss ski areas had to be temporarily shut down on Friday due to high winds. Already on Thursday, a chair lift at the Italian ski resort of Breuil-Cervinia, opposite Zermatt, began to swing dangerously, according to a video from the private Italian weather service Il. Weather forecast showed.
Casselman talks about the “phone of the decade”.
Meteorologist Georg Casselman He wrote about the “phone of the decade” in an article for Swiss Tmedia newspapers on Saturday. The foothills could be felt all the way to the Swabian Alp in Baden-Württemberg.
“This extreme phenomenon was made possible on the one hand by the large difference in air pressure between north and south, and on the other hand by extremely high temperatures even outside Fohn, which did not necessarily remove the heavy barrier of cold air. Far away,” Casselmann wrote.
Fine dust pollution is increasing
By mid-week, dust levels above 500 micrograms were measured in western Greece. Doctors have warned people with respiratory or heart problems not to stay outdoors for long periods of time as temperatures soar to an unusually high 30 degrees.
Also do not do any physically demanding work. At fine dust levels of 50 micrograms or more, complaints are said to occur.
Saharan dust is not uncommon in the spring
Saharan dust often moves north in spring and autumn. It erupts in the world's largest dry desert in North Africa. Fine particles can be transported thousands of kilometers.
