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Heavy thunderstorms were too much of a good thing in some areas on Monday afternoon. For example, there was an impressive flood on the Emme, as the videos in the gallery show.
Anschutz Emme
273 m3/s were registered at Eggiwil/BE, which corresponds to the highest danger level. Eight years ago, however, there was significantly more water at this measuring station. Further up, in the Kemmeribodenbad area, this event was bigger than 8 years ago.
Every 80 years or every 8 years?
Storms such as floods are often referred to as so-called return periods. Statistically speaking, a 100-year event repeats itself every hundred years. Theoretically it could be that an event is repeated three times in one year, but then nothing happens for 1000 years.
The flood statistics have methodological limitations. For example, the discharge data is a sample that is only partially representative of the actual behavior of a body of water.
More storm videos
Where does all that wood come from?
The videos clearly show how huge amounts of wood are being transported at the forefront of the tidal wave. The wood in the Anschutz is a mixture of dead wood lying in the creek bed, as well as trees and branches that are newly swept away by the tidal wave. The force of the tidal wave limbs and debarks the trees within a short time.
More floods in sight?
In the coming days the weather situation will be much calmer. We do not expect any more severe rainstorms for the time being. The somewhat longer-term trend is more indicative of a dry phase. Since many larger bodies of water tend to have little water, the headlines could soon be determined by the drought again.