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Switzerland-What to Expect in High Elevations?

Just need a little information--we will be going to many places in Switzerland this July--St. Moritz, Zermatt, Interlaken, Lucerne etc. In the higher elevations will it be cool? Is it usually warm in the towns and cold on top of the peaks? Thanks.

In early July two years ago we were in Zermatt. Although the weather was fairly warm, once we went up it was not only cold -- it was freezing. They closed the upper elevation lifts at Kein Matterhorn due to strong winds. We went part way up and had a snowball fight with fresh snow. We could not see outside from the daylodge as the snow was blowing too hard. A couple of days later we were in Grindelwald. On a bright clear day we went up the Jungfrau. Again it was snowing once we got up there. It was well below 32degrees F. I have a picture of the four of us bundled up like ski season on top, still looking like we were freezing, which we were. The wind was bitter cold. The moral: be prepared. Have several layers and a windbreaker. I don't think I'd have "survived" if not for my stocking cap I could pull down over my ears once I was outside.

I have often wondered about being cold up there. If hot air rises, why is it cold on top of a mountain?? Seems like the hot air would rise from the valley below and warm the landscape.

Although Zermatt and other places you name are relatively low compared to the surrounding peaks, you will find snow in the summer above 9,000 feet of elevation. I read once that you loose 3.07 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet of elevation gain because of atmospheric expansion. (Based on a change of 5.6 degrees C per vertical kilometer, or 10 degrees C per 3,280 feet.) That is an average figure of course, and assumes that you will not have atmospheric conditions that produce temperature inversion where warmer air gets trapped over cooler air. In these situations, it does actually get warmer as you go up, but on a limited basis. The Jungfrauhoch is at an elevation of 3580 meters, or 11,750 feet (about). Interlaken is 2470 feet (best figure I can find). The elevation differential in round figures is 9,000 feet. So you could expect 27 to 29 degrees F of temperature differential between the Joch and Interlaken. If 70 degrees F at Interlaken, it could easily be 42 on high. The snow and the wind will also have an effect on what you perceive, particularly the wind because it can blow through that notch at 40 knots and drive the windchill factor down into the teens. For example, the Gornergrat station today reported 30.2 degrees F. Zermat reported 42.8 F, both observations at 5:30 PM local time. The altitude difference between the two places is 1,500 meters or 4921 feet. Figuring 4.9 x 3.07 you get an expected difference of 15 degrees F, which is just about what you have by actual observation. As for being warm in the towns, it depends on what you call warm!! Zermatt will be 32 tomorrow, according to the forecast. And cloud cover can make a huge difference.

Opps. Neat Freudian style slip there. Jungfraujoch. Not Jungfrauhoch. Although hoch applies very nicely here, it, unfortunatley, is not the geographical name!!