FAQ

Meteocentrale warns by means of a multilevel warning system. It will issue warnings of gale/storm, heavy rain, heavy snow, freezing rain, and thunderstorms (with heavy rain, hail and gale-force wind gusts). Beyond that, Meteocentrale gives advices on glazed frost and icy roads, severe frost and heat.

Meteocentrale warns on postal code level.

The general map shows a combined system of severe weather warnings. If for one postal code area there are several warnings, such as gale/storm or heavy rain, the warning of the highest level will always be presented at first. Click on the corresponding severe weather icons (for heavy rain, heavy snow, thunderstorm, gale/storm) in the navigation bar on the top of the page to view a type of severe weather separately.

Meteocentrale warns by means of a multilevel warning system: YELLOW is the weather watch level which is issued if the occurrence of a severe weather event is probable but there are uncertainties about duration, intensity and/or the course of this severe weather event. The warning levels ORANGE, RED and VIOLET are flash warnings. These warnings are issued if meteorologists are certain about the occurrence of a severe weather event. The warning levels are dependent on the intensity of the severe weather. They vary from area to area to account for the different topographic and climatologic conditions. You can find more information on the respective warning levels directly at the bottom of those warnings.

Flash warnings of the warning levels ORANGE, RED and VIOLET are issued if the occurrence of a severe weather event is certain. This is generally 6 to 12 hours before the occurrence of such an event. Depending on the type of severe weather or weather conditions weather watches and flash warnings may be issued more shortly. Weather watches (YELLOW) are issued up to 48 hours in advance as the occurrence of the event may not be certain or there may be greater changes in time or in the intensity and in the moving direction of the forthcoming severe weather. Our Meteocentrale team of meteorologists strives to warn of imminent severe weather as early and reliably as possible.

Glazed frost, icy roads, severe frost and heat are no severe weather events in the conventional sense. Nevertheless, they may lead to considerable obstructions or health hazards. That is why Meteocentrale issues warnings of such events separately. The affected areas are presented in dark green on the general map. Weather advices are issued only for regions below 1000 meters.

Yes, the Meteocentrale meteorologists provide a 24/7 service around the year.

Meteocentrale meteorologists can draw on many years of experience when it comes to the early detection of severe weather events. The warnings are based on the world’s best weather models (ECMWF, GFS, UKMO, GEM, etc.), as well as on data derived by weather stations and on radar, lightning and satellite data.

No. Each (severe) weather event is evaluated by one of our meteorologists. This evaluation will decide on whether a severe weather warning will be issued or not. So each warning is finally issued by a "flesh and blood" meteorologist. In case of thunderstorms meteorologists can rely on an additional tool: If the precipitation radar indicates a certain intensity of a thunder cell, the system will automatically calculate the geo-coordinates and postal codes that are in the path of the thunder cell (hail and heavy rain cell) and a respective warning will be proposed. But in the end it will be a meteorologist who decides if a proposed warning is issued or not and at which warning level.