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Winter Weather at Zurich Airport Switzerland

Daily high temperatures are around 41°F, rarely falling below 26°F or exceeding 56°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 37°F on January 12.

Daily low temperatures are around 29°F, rarely falling below 16°F or exceeding 40°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 27°F on February 8.

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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Average High and Low Temperature in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb15°F15°F20°F20°F25°F25°F30°F30°F35°F35°F40°F40°F45°F45°F50°F50°F55°F55°F60°F60°F65°F65°F70°F70°FFallSpringJan 1237°FJan 1237°F28°F28°FDec 141°FDec 141°F31°F31°FFeb 2844°FFeb 2844°F29°F29°FFeb 139°FFeb 139°F28°F28°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 winter 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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Average Hourly Temperature in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb12 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 AMFallSpringfreezingvery coldcoldcoldfreezing
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 winter at Zurich Airport experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 61% to 55%.

The clearest day of the winter is February 28, 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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Cloud Cover Categories in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%FallSpringDec 139%Dec 139%Feb 2845%Feb 2845%Jan 140%Jan 140%Feb 142%Feb 142%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly 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 winter is decreasing, starting the season at 32% and ending it at 27%.

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 winter at Zurich Airport, the chance of a day with only rain decreases from 26% to 22%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 4% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 2% throughout.

Probability of Precipitation in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Probability of Precipitation in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0%0%5%5%10%10%15%15%20%20%25%25%30%30%35%35%40%40%FallSpringDec 132%Dec 132%Feb 2827%Feb 2827%Jan 133%Jan 133%Feb 131%Feb 131%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 winter at Zurich Airport is gradually decreasing, starting the season at 2.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.4 inches or falls below 0.8 inches, and ending the season at 2.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.1 inches or falls below 0.5 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 2.0 inches on February 20.

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0 in0 in1 in1 in2 in2 in3 in3 in4 in4 in5 in5 inFallSpringFeb 202.0 inFeb 202.0 inDec 12.6 inDec 12.6 inJan 12.4 inJan 12.4 inFeb 12.1 inFeb 12.1 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 winter at Zurich Airport is essentially constant, remaining about 2.1 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 6.9 inches or falling below -0.0 inches.

The highest average 31-day accumulation is 2.4 inches on January 2.

Average Monthly Snowfall in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Average Monthly Snowfall in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0 in0 in1 in1 in2 in2 in3 in3 in4 in4 in5 in5 in6 in6 in7 in7 inFallSpringJan 12.4 inJan 12.4 inDec 11.9 inDec 11.9 inFeb 281.8 inFeb 281.8 inFeb 11.9 inFeb 11.9 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 winter 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 2 hours, 18 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 33 seconds, and weekly increase of 10 minutes, 50 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 8 hours, 27 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 2 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0 hr24 hr4 hr20 hr8 hr16 hr12 hr12 hr16 hr8 hr20 hr4 hr24 hr0 hrFallSpringDec 218 hr, 27 minDec 218 hr, 27 minnightnightdaydayFeb 2811 hr, 2 minFeb 2811 hr, 2 minFeb 19 hr, 36 minFeb 19 hr, 36 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 winter at Zurich Airport is 8:13 AM on January 1 and the earliest sunrise is 1 hour, 6 minutes earlier at 7:07 AM on February 28.

The earliest sunset is 4:34 PM on December 10 and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 35 minutes later at 6:09 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is observed at Zurich Airport during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the winter, so the entire season is in standard time.

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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AMFallSpring7:07 AM7:07 AMFeb 286:09 PMFeb 286:09 PM8:02 AM8:02 AMDec 104:34 PMDec 104:34 PM8:13 AM8:13 AMJan 14:45 PMJan 14:45 PM7:51 AM7:51 AMFeb 15:27 PMFeb 15:27 PMSolarMidnightSolarMidnightSolarNoonSunriseSunset
The solar day in the winter. 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 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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb12 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 AMFallSpring00100101020
northeastsouthwest
Solar elevation and azimuth in the the winter 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 winter 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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb12 AM12 AM4 AM4 AM8 AM8 AM12 PM12 PM4 PM4 PM8 PM8 PM12 AM12 AMFallSpringNov 11:48 PMNov 11:48 PMNov 1510:29 PMNov 1510:29 PMDec 17:22 AMDec 17:22 AMDec 1510:02 AMDec 1510:02 AMDec 3011:28 PMDec 3011:28 PMJan 1311:28 PMJan 1311:28 PMJan 291:37 PMJan 291:37 PMFeb 122:54 PMFeb 122:54 PMFeb 281:45 AMFeb 281:45 AMMar 147:55 AMMar 147:55 AMMar 2911:58 AMMar 2911:58 AM4:48 PM4:48 PM4:11 PM4:11 PM8:25 AM8:25 AM8:39 AM8:39 AM3:48 PM3:48 PM4:08 PM4:08 PM8:59 AM8:59 AM8:18 AM8:18 AM5:13 PM5:13 PM5:38 PM5:38 PM8:10 AM8:10 AM7:26 AM7:26 AM6:55 PM6:55 PM5:45 PM5:45 PM6:46 AM6:46 AM7:13 PM7:13 PM
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 winter, 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 Winter at Zurich Airport

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70%70%80%80%90%90%100%100%FallSpringDec 10%Dec 10%Feb 280%Feb 280%Jan 10%Jan 10%Feb 10%Feb 10%drydry
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 increasing during the winter, increasing from 6.6 miles per hour to 7.1 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.

The highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 7.4 miles per hour on February 6.

Average Wind Speed in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Average Wind Speed in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0 mph0 mph2 mph2 mph4 mph4 mph6 mph6 mph8 mph8 mph10 mph10 mph12 mph12 mph14 mph14 mphFallSpringFeb 67.4 mphFeb 67.4 mphDec 16.6 mphDec 16.6 mphFeb 287.1 mphFeb 287.1 mphJan 17.0 mphJan 17.0 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 winter is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 46% on December 25.

Wind Direction in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Wind Direction in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%FallSpringwestsoutheastnorth
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.

The winter at Zurich Airport is very likely fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season gradually decreasing from 3% to 0% over the course of the season.

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

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%FallSpringDec 13%Dec 13%Feb 280%Feb 280%Jan 10%Jan 10%Feb 10%Feb 10%freezingvery coldcoldcoolfrigid
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 very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 2,062°F, from 2,068°F to 6°F, over the course of the season.

Growing Degree Days in the Winter at Zurich Airport

Growing Degree Days in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0°F0°F500°F500°F1,000°F1,000°F1,500°F1,500°F2,000°F2,000°FFallSpringDec 12,068°FDec 12,068°FFeb 286°FFeb 286°F
The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of the winter, 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 rapidly increasing during the winter, rising by 1.6 kWh, from 1.3 kWh to 2.8 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 1.1 kWh on December 23.

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

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Winter at Zurich AirportDecJanFeb0.0 kWh0.0 kWh0.5 kWh0.5 kWh1.0 kWh1.0 kWh1.5 kWh1.5 kWh2.0 kWh2.0 kWh2.5 kWh2.5 kWh3.0 kWh3.0 kWh3.5 kWh3.5 kWh4.0 kWh4.0 kWh4.5 kWh4.5 kWh5.0 kWh5.0 kWh5.5 kWh5.5 kWh6.0 kWh6.0 kWhFallSpringDec 231.1 kWhDec 231.1 kWhDec 11.3 kWhDec 11.3 kWhFeb 282.8 kWhFeb 282.8 kWhFeb 11.8 kWhFeb 11.8 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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