Burglind: Exceptional loss events up to January 2018

On January 2, 2018, the marginal low-pressure system Burglind moved from Scotland into the North Sea towards Denmark. Its wind field led to widespread gale-force winds in Switzerland and elsewhere on January 3. The entire country was affected, with the exception of the southern side of the Alps. On the Central Plateau, gust peaks of 80 to 100 km/h were recorded even at low altitudes, at exposed locations 150 to 170 km/h (St. Chrischona BS, Üetliberg ZH, Bantiger BE).

In the Jura, wind speeds of up to 184 km/h were measured (Chasseral BE). However, the highest gust peaks were recorded at stations in the foothills of the Alps and in the Alps, such as Gütsch ob Andermatt UR with 201 km/h and Pilatus (NW / OW) with 195 km/h, which corresponds to a new station record. The storm winds caused damage in many places: buildings were partially or completely covered, chimneys damaged, parts of facades torn off, scaffolding, fences and railroad gates twisted, squares and parking lots destroyed by flying objects, and finally trees fell onto roofs; numerous small buildings in Swiss communities were completely destroyed - such as informed the VKG, the umbrella organization of cantonal building insurers.

High damage

On January 4, the renewed passage of a marginal low ("Christine") again caused squalls in Switzerland, which, however, were weaker with a maximum of 150 km/h (Titlis OW). This was followed by a situation of congestion with abundant precipitation and above 2000 m with a lot of fresh snow. In 18 registered cantons so far, the approximately 39,000 reported damages to buildings added up to an amount of about CHF 107 million. However, the total damage is still far below the damage caused by the storm "Lothar" in December 1999.

(Source: vkg.ch/MeteoSwitzerland)