Tuesday, August 29, 2023 13:21
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Landscape in the Swiss town of Zermatt in just four days PHOTO Twitter
Meteorological experts are discussing a case of a sudden change of scenery that occurred the other day in a small town in Switzerland.
We are talking about the city of Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, a town located at an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level. A few days ago, it made headlines in the national media due to the record temperature recorded there on August 24 – 31.2 degrees Celsius.
On August 28, the landscape changed radically. The temperature dropped to 0.5 degrees Celsius, and the area was covered with a continuous layer of snow.
Over the past 48 hours, a persistent wave of cold has moved southwest Europe to higher altitudes.
The meteorologist posted a video showing the movement of air currents.
“The heat wave is coming out of Europe with a roar.
Watch the jet stream aggressively penetrate southern Europe. The atmosphere is prepared for severe weather – it’s happening right now,” says Scott Duncan, a popular UK meteorologist on Twitter.
Another animation, made by the same meteorologist, captures the same period of August 24-28. You can see how a cold wave (recorded at an altitude of more than 1500 meters) covers Europe up to the border with Romania:
“The Mediterranean is now also acting as an additional source of fuel for storms. Sea surface temperatures are at record levels.
The Gulf of Lion (south of France) is especially hot. During this “abnormal development,” the sea surface is likely to cool dramatically, the meteorologist writes.
One of the first consequences of very hot air rising into the atmosphere and colliding with cold waves will be heavy rain.
Images in this sense have emerged over the past 24 hours from other areas of the Alps.
Storms will be another effect:
Large temperature swings over several days or severe storms are also consequences of global warming, climate scientists explain:
“Higher temperatures can lead to more intense evaporation of water from the oceans or other bodies of water. More water vapor in the atmosphere could lead to more rain and snow and trigger tropical storms.”