Föhn, Fun, Föhn - Page 2

ChrisW · #21 18.09.2007, 12:39

These discussions being in the same thread suggests that La bise is the same as the Föhn. This is not so, they are quite different. See this Encyclopedia Britannica entry, or the Wikipedia entries on la Wikipedia reference-link

Bise and

Foehn winds.

Jester · #22 18.09.2007, 14:14

When I lived in Bern I sometimes would get this awful ringing in my ears - someone informed me that this was the Föhn, but they always hung up before I could answer.

cbb · #23 10.01.2008, 23:45

Hi all,
After finally working out what they are can anyone tell me which time of the year they are most common? (If any).

Cheers

Kittster · #24 10.01.2008, 23:50

All year.

And the Swiss (aka we) justify going completely nuts, foul-tempered and temperamental with the Föhn. It gives us headaches, makes us shoot stuff and have road accidents. It's like kryptonite.

cbb · #25 10.01.2008, 23:53

Cheers. Sounds like a great excuse for loads. I like it!

Do they mention it on the normal weather forecast?

stout2104 · #26 10.01.2008, 23:57

Föhn is most common in Spring, but you also find lots of it in Winter and Autumn --> see www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/web/de/lexikon/f/Foehn.Par.0001.DownloadFile.tmp/foehn.pdf

Föhn usually happens when you get areas of high pressure South of the Alps and low pressure North of the alps. The high pressure air is blocked by the alps and forced to climb up, thus cooling down and loosing much humidity. Once it gets over the top of the alps towards the north, it sinks down rapidly and heats up and this then causes the hot dry föhn wind (not 100% scientifically correct, but you get the picture). This weather situation is most common in Spring and Winter, but much less common in summer where areas of high pressure are very often located north of the alps.

Hope this kind of explains Swiss Föhn weather

gregv · #27 11.01.2008, 00:06

I like the Foehn myself. It's pretty much the equivalent of the Chinook winds in Seattle, or the Santa Ana winds in California. I like that it warms up and it doesn't hurt my sinuses to breathe, and that my skin isn't so dried out.

dalehauskins · #28 11.01.2008, 00:45

Yes,in and around Weggis all the way down to Luzern the Föhn warm winds you can sure feel it.
I love the Föhn;and it reminds me of my hometown Pico Rivera,Los Angeles.

As a native southern Californian,it reminds me too too much of the warm,dry Santa Ana winds.It's pretty much the same...

I laugh at some of the old Swiss people using it for going nuts,headaches, bad,foul-tempered and temperamental with the Föhns just for an excuse.

Es guäts Neus !!

Tschüß,

1 Love zämä

Woodsie · #29 11.01.2008, 08:00

If you are into winter sports the Föhn is a gift from Satan straight from hell. On a bad day closing lifts, turning the pistes into concrete, the off piste into a a moonscape of crusty ridges and blowing up layers of windblown snow just looking for an excuse to slide down the mountain, taking the hapless back country rider with it.

AbFab · #30 28.05.2008, 07:23

I woke this morning at 06:30 and saw it was both windy outside and 24.8°. Within 3/4 hour the wind had dropped and the temperature was down to 21°.

The Föhn is very local, and so that might have just been a Thalwil phenomenon, otherwise for those in the Zurich area it's been quite a while since we had such a strong Föhn as this.

Enjoy and don't go crazy...

#31 28.05.2008, 07:31

It was wild down in the Rhone valley part of Vaud yesterday. The wind was super dry, gritty and sucked the moisture out of everything. The trees have lost a lot of leaves - it was like autumn. I saw on the news this morning that Europe was getting hit by winds coming up from the Sahara.

möpp · #32 28.05.2008, 08:57

Definately Föhn - heard on the radio this morning that Wädenswil had their first "tropical" night, i.e. temperatures not below 20°C

jrspet · #33 05.11.2011, 22:57

The Föhn wind blew today.

	Quote:
	Temperatures in some parts of Switzerland reached a summery 25 degrees on Saturday, as a Foehn wind from the south continued to upset weather norms. A Foehn wind is a dry southerly wind which occurs on the down-side slope of a mountain. Quinten in canton St Gallen in the north east of the country recorded 25 degrees celsius on Saturday, while cantons Glarus and Uri recorded temperatures of 24 and 23 degrees respectively, according to the weather service Meteo Swiss. The Foehn also brought gusty winds of around 140 kilometres per hour on the Titlis and Gotthard mountains in central Switzerland, and of around 100kph in the valleys.

Swissinfo

Interesting CS publication on this wind

URL

From BigamazingFacts

	Quote:
	During periods when the foehn is blowing, people in the region frequently report dizziness, nausea, and depression. Accidents and crime increase. Animals too are affected, and cows sometimes stop giving milk. Some scientists believe that the foehn’s ill effects are due to its influence on electricity in the air. Changes in the electrical balance of the atmosphere can disturb living things.

LA Times

	Quote:
	Police notice a spike in traffic accidents and crime. Cattle and other animals become restless and won't eat. Students get so distracted that schools in Innsbruck postpone exams, and Swiss researchers have documented a 20% rise in suicides. In western Austria and parts of Switzerland, the foehn is recognized as a mitigating factor in criminal proceedings. The foehn defense won't get charges dropped, but judges have issued lighter sentences in a few cases.