Weather question - Alps vs. cities
 

I will be in Switzerland May 23-29 visiting the following areas:

Lausanne
Zermatt
Lauterbrunnen Valley/Jungfrau region
Lucerne

Can anyone offer insight as to the weather in these differing areas? Will it be too cold in Zermatt/Lauterbrunnen Valley to go without a sweater/coat?

Thanks!

Hi bendrix731,

It was too cold in Montreux in August to go without a sweater or a coat. I would say, yes!

s

Hello bendrix731 :)

I just checked the weather forecast for Zermatt, picking one of your dates at random.

On the 24th, the high is predicted to be 49 F. or 9 C.

For me, I'd need more than just a sweater.

If you plan to go up into the mountains, for example the Gornergrat trip from Zermatt, do pack a rain- and windproof jacket and a warm fleece. If the temperature in Zermatt is 9°C you can expect temps close to zero up there.

When I was in that area at the end of May, in Zermatt/Lucerne a sweater was enough. Up in the mountains a windbreaker was needed in addition to a sweater.

It was snowing in Murren.

Take a look here for Grindelwald, which is in the Berner Oberland.
http://tinyurl.com/4nysc4

Highs in the mid fifties; lows around 40.

Higher up, temperatures are cooler. You can figure on a drop of 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet gain in elevation because of atmospheric expansion.

But cloud cover plays a huge role in temperatures as does the wind.

For example, one day in July I was hiking on and in snow on top of the Grimsel Pass. The sun was hot and I had converted my hiking trousers to shorts and had on a tee shirt. Suddenly the clouds covered the sun and the wind picked up considerably.
I suddenly went from perspiring to very cool. That Polarfleece pullover in my pack came out rapidly.

Grindelwald is at an elevation of about 3,400 feet in the downtown area. Kleine Scheidegg, a popular rail destination on the way to the Jungfraujoch, is at an elevation of about 6,800. So given similar weather conditions, the temperture difference between the two should be about 10 degrees.

If the temperature is 46 degrees and the wind is aboutr 15 mph are you ok with a sweater?

I'm with Swandav. I take both my light Polarfleece pullover and my Goretex jacket even in July if I am going upwards. If I don't need one, or both, it comes off and goes in my pack.

Rarely will you stay at the lower altitudes if you do anything at all around the Berner Oberland.

Luzern is lower and a little warmer than Grindelwald I might add, but often it is breezy.

Have done Switzerland several times in May/early June and have found that a cotton sweater and light weight jacket - like a jean jacket - was enough for higher altitudes (like Jungfraujoch). Of course - we only went outside for about 40 minutes. If you're going up to the ski school - or will be hiking at high altitudes all day you may need more.

For the lowlands - Lucerne, Interlaken, Geneva, Zurich - we needed only the jacket at night - just tees or shirt during the day.

The high at the Jungfraujoch today was 24 degrees Fahrenheit.

The forecast for next week, as far as the forecast goes, shows nothing even as high as 29 degrees.

Zermatt will be in the mid forties, however, it is at the base of the peaks and to see them one must go upwards. The Gornergrat, one of the major viewpoints, will have highs near freezing for the next week to 10 days. The Klein Matterhorn, which is higher than the Jungfraujock, will have high temperatures around 29 or -2 degrees Celsius.


Wear what you want, but I want a little more than a cotton sweater in those temperatures.

When I went mid-SUMMER to Junfraujoch we had zip-off shorts with short-sleeved shirt from Wengen, then added the zip-ons, fleece, and wind-breakers at the peak. So this month, obviously even colder. Bring a small backpack and prepare to add and strip up and down.

Agree with everyone - we were just in Switzerland and were fortunate enough to hit an incredibly warm week - we had tons of layers with us but spent most of the time in a t-shirt. When we went up Rocher de Naye we did wear our jackets, it gets colder fast!

I always have a t-shirt, some sort of zip up lightweight fleece or something similar, and my waterproof shell. We had a backpack with us so we just had different combinations as we needed.