{"id":480446,"date":"2026-02-17T10:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/480446\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:13:13","slug":"meteorologists-raise-red-flags-on-alarming-winter-trend-hardly-to-be-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/480446\/","title":{"rendered":"Meteorologists raise red flags on alarming winter trend: &#8216;Hardly to be expected&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Meteorologists in Switzerland are reporting a drastic decrease in snowfall going into the country&#8217;s busy sports season.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s happening?<\/p>\n<p>There is an average of 60% less snow than usual in Switzerland, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluewin.ch\/en\/news\/switzerland\/this-winter-there-is-60-percent-less-snow-than-usual-3071949.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">blue News<\/a>. Certain regions have seen as little as 30% of the usual precipitation, while others have received as much as 90% of the usual snowfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A persistent high-pressure system has brought cold but dry conditions to the country. <\/p>\n<p>After little precipitation last December, the region was expected to receive more snowfall in late January. However, it may not be enough to allow winter sports like sledding, skiing, or snowboarding. High winds and temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) can also lead to melting. Snowfall in the lowlands was expected to reach just 500 meters.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But more is hardly to be expected in the lowlands,&#8221; Meteo Switzerland told blue News.<\/p>\n<p>Why is a decrease in snowfall concerning?<\/p>\n<p>Less snow means less opportunity for people to enjoy winter sports. While this may seem like a small problem, it has a big impact on local economies. For example, one ski resort in the U.S. saw a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/green-business\/vail-resorts-low-snowfall-economy-ski-resorts-climate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">20% decrease<\/a> in visitors due to a lack of snowfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, a decrease in snowfall can cause snow drought or unusually low snowpack. Snowpack creates meltwater, which serves as an important water source for communities downstream. When there is a snow drought, these people could face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/outdoors\/snow-drought-western-us-water-shortage-reservoirs-impacts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">water shortages<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s being done about the snow drought?<\/p>\n<p>Human activity has led to concerning levels of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/outdoors\/landfill-emissions-methane-waste-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pollution<\/a>, causing global temperatures to rise. This has caused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/outdoors\/steroids-extreme-weather-climate-change-storms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">extreme weather events<\/a> that exacerbate or contribute to snow drought.<\/p>\n<p>By educating ourselves and making eco-conscious lifestyle choices, we can <a href=\"http:\/\/guide.thecooldown.com\/actions\/explore-critical-climate-issues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">help combat<\/a> the effects of climate change. One way to do this is by switching to solar energy, which slashes utility costs, makes your home more resilient to extreme weather, and helps the environment.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/links.thecooldown.com\/solar-explorer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TCD&#8217;s Solar Explorer<\/a> curates competitive bids and helps you save money on installations. Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/links.thecooldown.com\/energysage-resilience\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">EnergySage<\/a> provides a free service that makes it easy to connect with vetted local installers, save thousands on solar installations, and understand available incentives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\" style=\"max-width:600px\">Get TCD&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/newsletter\/?utm_source=recpmJuCCJGQ0dTf1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD&#8217;s exclusive <a href=\"https:\/\/links.thecooldown.com\/rewards-club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"36\" height=\"24\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tcd\/assets\/images\/divider-icon-earth.svg\" alt=\"Cool Divider\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meteorologists in Switzerland are reporting a drastic decrease in snowfall going into the country&#8217;s busy sports season. What&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3090,3091,45,49,48,6721,3092,6093,6723,6094,2151,6655,3093,66,3094,3095,8048,3096],"class_list":{"0":"post-480446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-bad-news","9":"tag-bad-weather-news","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-change-the-way-you-get-involved-on-climate-issues","14":"tag-clean-energy","15":"tag-climate-change","16":"tag-explore-critical-climate-issues","17":"tag-extreme-weather","18":"tag-home","19":"tag-money-saving","20":"tag-outdoors","21":"tag-science","22":"tag-solar-energy","23":"tag-solar-panels","24":"tag-waste-less","25":"tag-yahoo-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}