My favourite newspaper, "Der Bund" (http://www.espace.ch/artikel_387753.html) had an article on Saturday (in German) concerning the effects of the massive rainstorm that darkened the sky so impressively last Thursday morning (see my blog entry of that day).
A cool website allows you to look at past weather events:
http://www.landi.ch/fra/0804_niederschlagsradar.asp (French)
http://www.landi.ch/deu/0804_niederschlagsradar.asp (German)
Just insert the date and times you wish to observe and see the clouds race (or not) across Switzerland.
It would appear that last Thursday's raincloud was a "super cloud" containing an estimated 100 million metric tons of water. Its density was so great that it had the same darkening effect as a total solar eclipse -- and that's exactly what it felt like. Scary. Dark. The birds fell silent. But not all that unusual, especially in summers with unsettled weather. We're certainly set for some more of this.
My heart goes out to all those who suffered the loss of loved ones -- three people in Huttwil, Switzerland on June 8; 3 people in England yesterday; victims elsewhere in Europe -- and damage to their homes. The rainstorm of last Thursday alone caused damages in excess of CHF 45 million. The images are impressive.
Here's hoping the summer may change and become a little more clement. Not sure it will -- the sycamore trees outside my office window are being torn about by massive gusts of wind as I type these words.
The summer holiday season is almost with us. Travel safely wherever you may go!
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