Violent thunderstorms with lightning and hail fell in the Bernese Oberland on Friday evening. Interlaken set a new rain record. According to MeteoSwiss, 42.1 millimeters of rain fell there within 30 minutes.
It was also raining heavily in Frutigen. 15.7 millimeters of rain fell within 10 minutes. In Wädenswil on Lake Zurich, 57.6 millimeters of rain fell within an hour – also a new record, as SRF Meteo tweeted on Friday evening.
Around 25,000 lightning bolts
The thunderstorms were accompanied locally by heavy hail. At the same time, the temperature fell from 27 to 17 degrees. In total, MeteoNews counted 25,000 lightning strikes throughout Switzerland by 11 p.m. In the canton of Bern there were 4500 followed by Zurich with around 3500 lightning bolts.
The wind picked up gusty near the thunderstorm. According to SRF Meteo, the strongest gust of 86 kilometers per hour was measured in Brienz BE. According to the MeteoSwiss weather radar, thunderstorms were still raging in the canton of Zurich before midnight. In the course of the night the situation calmed down.
Fire in a house in Wädenswil
An apartment building in Wädenswil caught fire on Friday evening, presumably from a lightning strike. There was material damage of over 100,000 francs. Nobody got hurt. The fire brigade moved out around 10.30 p.m. She quickly brought the flames under control.
The extinguishers were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the neighboring apartment building. The around a dozen residents who were affected by the house fire had to be evacuated. The attic apartment is no longer habitable.
Railway line interrupted
While some tenants were able to return to their apartments, accommodation had to be organized by the municipality for some of the residents. Because of the fire, the railway line between Wädenswil and Saturdayern had to be interrupted for several hours.
The cause of the fire has not yet been clarified. She is being examined by specialists from the fire investigation service of the Zurich canton police. The police do not rule out lightning as the cause of the fire, as they further announced.
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