Since Wednesday, the amounts of rain that have fallen have sometimes approached record highs, especially in the central and eastern regions of Switzerland. It was the summit of Säntis that received the most water, with 180 liters per square meter.
Lake Walenstadt, in the cantons of St. Gallen and Glarus, rose 80 centimeters. It has thus almost returned to its normal level, indicates SRF Meteo on Twitter on Saturday morning. He had already taken advantage of the rains of the previous days.
In addition to Säntis, Meteonews also announces considerable rainfall amounts for measuring stations at lower altitudes in the central and eastern Prealps. Between Friday and Saturday morning, precipitation reached 173 liters per square meter in Oberriet (SG), 149 liters in Altstätten (SG) and 144 liters in Weesen (SG).
In the canton of Saint-Gall, the firefighters had to intervene 200 times on Friday evening, in particular for flooded cellars.
Soils absorb rain well
The precipitation that fell in 24 hours sometimes approached record values in central and eastern Switzerland. According to Meteonews, Altstätten and Innerthal (SZ) fell with the second highest amount of rain ever measured.
The parched soils, however, absorbed moisture well. According to meteorologists, the level of streams and rivers has certainly increased, but has not caused major problems.
Much less rain fell in the west, in Ticino and Valais.