Hiking weather in June

Hi,

I will be saying in Wengen for a week starting June 7th. The forecast seems quite bad for what I wanted to do (treking and biking) as it seems to be raining practically the entire week while I'm there. How predictable really is the weather in this area? Anything else I can do in this weather? Any other close-by regions I should look to explore while this part is rainy?

Help will be appreciated,
Gadi

This weather system should be pretty predictable and widespread. There will be some local variation but not a lot I suspect.

I'm not sure if you can read a synoptic, if you can take a look at http://www.mwis.org.uk/synoptic.php#000 which shows a pretty solid pattern. Monday afternoon looks best so far but that could shift although the pattern is unlikely to break I'd say. It's unfortunate for you really, this looks set to be the wettest week for 6 months or more.

That said, some of the successive lows coming over won't be carrying too much precipitation so some of this will be no more than drizzle or light showers. It's just rained here for a few minutes but it wouldn't have stopped you getting out, we were having a bbq in warm sunshine an hour ago.

I agree with SwissMountainLeader that drizzles/light showers won't keep you from hiking and biking assuming you have the proper clothing (light, breathable waterproof shell with hood). The mountains are actually very beautiful to see when weather is moving through.

That said, there are lots of things to do in the area if the weather is really bad. I have a 30+ page write up on Wengen area that includes stuff to do when it's really raining (such as Lake Brienz cruise, Ballenberg Museum, Lauterbrunnen valley walk/Trümmelbach Falls). Happy to send it to you. If you're interested, send me your email address in a private message.

Hi Gadi,

All I can add is that it would be wise not to make a definite plan for the next day until you've watched the weather forecast at around 7:50 PM on TV channel SF1. The map they show allows you to see which regions will have the best weather during what part of the day.

I arrive in Geneva next Thursday for my 1st visit to Switzerland. i cannot decide whether to choose the Valais or Bernese Oberland area- my concern is the weather in the Oberland. We want a nature experience. Any thoughts?

you can do both, there's a great tunnel from the Valais into Kandersteg and beyond. In fact, walk over the Gemmipass and you can do it on foot! (I'll try and dig out some photo's tomorrow)

My guess is that high up the weather will be much the same, down on the valley the Valais side may be better if this weather continues. The last long range I saw suggested we'd be clearing by next week though, probably by the weekend really.