MeteoSwiss, officially the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, is an office of the

federal administration of Switzerland The federal administration of Switzerland is the ensemble of agencies that constitute, together with the Swiss Federal Council, the executive branch of the Switzerland, Swiss federal authorities. The administration is charged with executing ...

. It employs 290 people at locations in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Zurich Airport Zurich Airport is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest o ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

and

Payerne Payerne (; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earliest traces of ...

History

Originally established as the Central Meteorological Institute (MZA), by 1863 it operated 88 weather stations. Its name was changed in 1979 to ''Swiss Meteorological Institute'' (SMA). Since 1996, it has been operating as MeteoSwiss. Since 2006, its official name is "Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss".

Function

The office observes the weather around the clock, creating weather forecasts and alerting authorities and population, when strong winds, heavy rainfall, storms or heat waves are forecast. In addition, it provides weather services for the civil, military and

private aviation Private aviation is the part of civil aviation that does not include flying for hire, which is termed commercial aviation. In 2022, private air travel was noted as increasing. Definition Private aviation and commercial aviation are not rigoro ...

. The office also carries out a program of research and development to understand the weather and climate in the Alps. They also officially represent Switzerland at the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

in Geneva.

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meteoswiss Governmental meteorological agencies in Europe Federal Department of Home Affairs Federal offices of Switzerland Meteorological organisations based in Switzerland

History

Function

See also

Notes and references

External links