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Spring Weather at Zurich Airport Switzerland

Daily high temperatures increase by 24°F, from 45°F to 69°F, rarely falling below 34°F or exceeding 81°F.

Daily low temperatures increase by 20°F, from 30°F to 50°F, rarely falling below 19°F or exceeding 57°F.

For reference, on August 3, the hottest day of the year, temperatures at Zurich Airport typically range from 57°F to 77°F, while on February 8, the coldest day of the year, they range from 27°F to 40°F.

Average High and Low Temperature in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average High and Low Temperature in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay20°F20°F30°F30°F40°F40°F50°F50°F60°F60°F70°F70°F80°F80°F90°F90°FWinterSummerMar 145°FMar 145°F30°F30°FMay 3169°FMay 3169°F50°F50°FApr 154°FApr 154°F36°F36°FMay 162°FMay 162°F43°F43°F
The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average spring temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Average Hourly Temperature in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average Hourly Temperature in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMWinterSummerfreezingvery coldcoldcoolcomfortable
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

Hope, British Columbia, Canada (5,116 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Zurich Airport (view comparison).

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The spring at Zurich Airport experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 57% throughout the season. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 60% on May 7.

The clearest day of the spring is March 2, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 45% of the time.

For reference, on November 23, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 63%, while on July 22, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 62%.

Cloud Cover Categories in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Cloud Cover Categories in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%WinterSummerJul 2262%Jul 2262%Mar 145%Mar 145%May 3145%May 3145%Apr 142%Apr 142%May 140%May 140%clearmostly clearpartly cloudyovercast
0% clear 20% mostly clear 40% partly cloudy 60% mostly cloudy 80% overcast 100%
The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. At Zurich Airport, the chance of a wet day over the course of the spring is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 28% and ending it at 47%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 48% on June 10, and its lowest chance is 27% on February 29.

Over the course of the spring at Zurich Airport, the chance of a day with only rain increases from 22% to 47%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain decreases from 3% to 0%, and the chance of a day with only snow decreases from 2% to 0%.

Probability of Precipitation in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Probability of Precipitation in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0%0%5%5%10%10%15%15%20%20%25%25%30%30%35%35%40%40%45%45%50%50%WinterSummerMar 128%Mar 128%May 3147%May 3147%Apr 137%Apr 137%May 139%May 139%mixedrainsnow
The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the spring at Zurich Airport is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 2.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.1 inches or falls below 0.5 inches, and ending the season at 4.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 6.9 inches or falls below 2.1 inches.

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0 in0 in1 in1 in2 in2 in3 in3 in4 in4 in5 in5 in6 in6 in7 in7 inWinterSummerMar 12.1 inMar 12.1 inMay 314.5 inMay 314.5 inApr 12.7 inApr 12.7 inMay 13.4 inMay 13.4 in
The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average snowfall.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during the spring at Zurich Airport is decreasing, starting the season at 1.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.7 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the season at -0.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds -0.0 inches or falls below -0.0 inches.

Average Monthly Snowfall in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average Monthly Snowfall in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0 in0 in1 in1 in2 in2 in3 in3 in4 in4 in5 in5 inWinterSummerMar 11.7 inMar 11.7 inMay 31-0.0 inMay 31-0.0 inApr 10.3 inApr 10.3 inMay 10.0 inMay 10.0 in
The average snowfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average rainfall.

Over the course of the spring at Zurich Airport, the length of the day is very rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 4 hours, 35 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 3 minutes, 2 seconds, and weekly increase of 21 minutes, 11 seconds.

The shortest day of the spring is March 1, with 11 hours, 6 minutes of daylight and the longest day is May 31, with 15 hours, 41 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0 hr24 hr4 hr20 hr8 hr16 hr12 hr12 hr16 hr8 hr20 hr4 hr24 hr0 hrWinterSummerMar 2012 hr, 7 minMar 2012 hr, 7 minnightnightdaydayMay 3115 hr, 41 minMay 3115 hr, 41 minMay 114 hr, 29 minMay 114 hr, 29 min
The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The latest sunrise of the spring at Zurich Airport is 7:05 AM on March 31 and the earliest sunrise is 1 hour, 33 minutes earlier at 5:33 AM on May 31.

The earliest sunset is 6:11 PM on March 1 and the latest sunset is 3 hours, 3 minutes later at 9:14 PM on May 31.

Daylight saving time (DST) starts at 3:00 AM on March 31, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour later.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:28 AM and sets 15 hours, 58 minutes later, at 9:26 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:10 AM and sets 8 hours, 27 minutes later, at 4:37 PM.

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AMWinterSummer5:33 AM5:33 AMMay 319:14 PMMay 319:14 PM7:05 AM7:05 AMMar 16:11 PMMar 16:11 PM7:05 AM7:05 AMMar 317:54 PMMar 317:54 PM6:08 AM6:08 AMMay 18:37 PMMay 18:37 PMMar 31DSTMar 31DSTSolarMidnightSolarMidnightSolarNoonSunriseSunset
The solar day in the spring. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray. The transitions to and from daylight saving time are indicated by the 'DST' labels.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMWinterSummer00102030405060010102030405060
northeastsouthwest
Solar elevation and azimuth in the the spring of 2024. The black lines are lines of constant solar elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon, in degrees). The background color fills indicate the azimuth (the compass bearing) of the sun. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries of the cardinal compass points indicate the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the spring of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay12 AM12 AM4 AM4 AM8 AM8 AM12 PM12 PM4 PM4 PM8 PM8 PM12 AM12 AMWinterSummerFeb 1012:00 AMFeb 1012:00 AMFeb 241:31 PMFeb 241:31 PMMar 1010:01 AMMar 1010:01 AMMar 258:01 AMMar 258:01 AMApr 88:22 PMApr 88:22 PMApr 241:50 AMApr 241:50 AMMay 85:23 AMMay 85:23 AMMay 233:54 PMMay 233:54 PMJun 62:38 PMJun 62:38 PMJun 223:09 AMJun 223:09 AM7:52 AM7:52 AM4:54 PM4:54 PM5:59 PM5:59 PM7:52 AM7:52 AM7:03 AM7:03 AM6:43 PM6:43 PM6:01 PM6:01 PM6:27 AM6:27 AM6:41 AM6:41 AM8:00 PM8:00 PM8:11 PM8:11 PM6:19 AM6:19 AM5:46 AM5:46 AM9:47 PM9:47 PM9:35 PM9:35 PM5:39 AM5:39 AM9:59 PM9:59 PM9:38 PM9:38 PM5:08 AM5:08 AM
The time in which the moon is above the horizon (light blue area), with new moons (dark gray lines) and full moons (blue lines) indicated. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy at Zurich Airport is essentially constant during the spring, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on August 6, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 2% of the time, while on October 2, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70%70%80%80%90%90%100%100%WinterSummerMar 10%Mar 10%May 310%May 310%Apr 10%Apr 10%May 10%May 10%humidhumidcomfortablecomfortabledrydry
dry 55°F comfortable 60°F humid 65°F muggy 70°F oppressive 75°F miserable
The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed at Zurich Airport is gradually decreasing during the spring, decreasing from 7.1 miles per hour to 6.2 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on February 6, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.4 miles per hour, while on August 9, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.3 miles per hour.

Average Wind Speed in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average Wind Speed in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0 mph0 mph2 mph2 mph4 mph4 mph6 mph6 mph8 mph8 mph10 mph10 mph12 mph12 mph14 mph14 mphWinterSummerMar 17.1 mphMar 17.1 mphMay 316.2 mphMay 316.2 mphApr 17.2 mphApr 17.2 mphMay 16.4 mphMay 16.4 mph
The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The hourly average wind direction at Zurich Airport throughout the spring is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 46% on May 31.

Wind Direction in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Wind Direction in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%WinterSummerwesteastnorthsouth
northeastsouthwest
The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season at Zurich Airport typically lasts for 6.3 months (193 days), from around April 19 to around October 29, rarely starting before April 2 or after May 8, and rarely ending before October 10 or after November 21.

During the spring at Zurich Airport, the chance that a given day is within the growing season is very rapidly increasing rising from 0% to 100% over the course of the season.

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Spring at Zurich Airportgrowing seasonMarAprMay0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%WinterSummerMar 10%Mar 10%100%May 31100%May 31Apr 18%Apr 18%80%May 180%May 1freezingvery coldcoldcoolcomfortablewarmfrigid
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is within the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days at Zurich Airport are increasing during the spring, increasing by 366°F, from 7°F to 372°F, over the course of the season.

Growing Degree Days in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Growing Degree Days in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay50°F50°F100°F100°F150°F150°F200°F200°F250°F250°F300°F300°F350°F350°F400°F400°F450°F450°FWinterSummerMar 17°FMar 17°FMay 31372°FMay 31372°FApr 142°FApr 142°FMay 1142°FMay 1142°F
The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of the spring, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy at Zurich Airport is very rapidly increasing during the spring, rising by 3.2 kWh, from 2.9 kWh to 6.1 kWh, over the course of the season.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Spring at Zurich Airport

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Spring at Zurich AirportMarAprMay0 kWh0 kWh1 kWh1 kWh2 kWh2 kWh3 kWh3 kWh4 kWh4 kWh5 kWh5 kWh6 kWh6 kWh7 kWh7 kWh8 kWh8 kWh9 kWh9 kWhWinterSummerMar 12.9 kWhMar 12.9 kWhMay 316.1 kWhMay 316.1 kWhApr 14.2 kWhApr 14.2 kWhMay 15.3 kWhMay 15.3 kWh
The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Zurich Airport are 47.453 deg latitude, 8.561 deg longitude, and 1,414 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Zurich Airport contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 502 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1,462 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,749 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (11,030 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Zurich Airport is covered by artificial surfaces (60%), cropland (24%), and trees (15%), within 10 miles by cropland (36%) and trees (31%), and within 50 miles by trees (36%) and cropland (28%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at Zurich Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

Zurich Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back include but are not limited to Dübendorf Air Base, Emmen Air Base, Konstanz, Meiringen, Messstetten, Friedrichshafen, St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport, and EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.

We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.

We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader.

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