The ski tourers were on the Haute Route between Zermatt and Arolla when they were caught in a storm. The weather also affected search and rescue operations. Gaudenz Flury from SRF Meteo summarizes the weather conditions from the weekend.
SRF News: What were the weather conditions on the Haute Route on Saturday?
On Saturday morning the weather was still fairly calm. The wind was relatively weak, according to data from the measuring station on the Gornergrat, above Zermatt. But the first gusts of around 80 km/h were registered around midday. At around 4 p.m., hurricane gusts of over 120 km/h were measured – all of this on the Gornergrat at around 3,100 meters above sea level. The Col de la Tête Blanche is at almost 3600 meters, so possibly more exposed than the measurements on the Gornergrat.
When the group set out, was it already known that conditions would deteriorate throughout the day?
The forecasts on our website were: It will be quite sunny on Saturday morning, but on the main Alpine ridge it will be partly cloudy from the south. In the afternoon thick clouds will roll in from the west. But it mostly stays dry. Föhn storm: Gusts of 60 to 90 km/h, peaking on Sunday night in the Hasli and Uri Reuss valleys up to 130 km/h and on the summits up to 160 km/h.
The avalanche picture from Friday evening: level three significant, i.e. significant avalanche danger. The danger description stated: With strong to stormy southerly winds, snowdrift accumulations that are prone to triggering can also occur far from the ridges. Avalanches can also be triggered at deeper levels. These danger spots are difficult to recognize, even for experienced people.
What are the forecasts for further recovery?
The weather today is much calmer. In the morning it is quite sunny, the wind is light. It shouldn’t be a problem to be out and about this morning. In the afternoon more cloud fields will appear again. So I think the rescue will be attempted this morning.
The interview was conducted by Susanne Stöckli.