Schnee legt Flughafen Kloten lahm (Zurich airport collapses under snow)
09.02.99 11:13 Der starke Schneefall hat den Flugverkehr auf dem Flughafen Zürich-Kloten praktisch lahmgelegt (Zurich airport collapses under snow). Nur vier Flüge konnten bis 09.30 Uhr starten (till 0930AM onye 4 departures were cleared), rund 50 wurden annuliert (50 flights so far annulated), wie die Flughafendirektion mitteilte. 30 ankommende Maschinen landeten (30 flights landed), 15 wurden umgeleitet (15 were rerouted). Der Flughafen Basel-Mülhausen musste sogar vorläufig geschlossen werden (Basel, one-hour from Zurich) is completely closed.

Die Schneeräumungsmannschaften in Zürich kommen wegen der Schneefälle mit der Arbeit auf den Pisten und dem Flugvorfeld nicht mehr nach. Im Einsatz stehen seit 02.00 Uhr über 100 Leute.

Den Passagieren wird empfohlen, sich über die Auskunftsnummer 157 10 60 (toll free local Zurich airport telefon number).

WATCH OUT, SIMILAR PROBLEMS IN MUNICH and GENEVA, a little bit better in FRANKFURT and DUSSELDORF.

Rudy, my German is not so good but I got the gist of what you were saying. I flew from ZRH to CVG on Monday the 8th and my flight was delayed for 3 hours and had to unload fuel in order to take off (had a refueling stop in Bangor, Maine). This was before the real snow hit!
It was interesting that in reading the SR inflight magazine going into ZRH early that morning there was an article about ZRH NEVER
having been completly closed during a snowstorm (always at least one runway open).

(from CNN news)

Swiss Alps hit by heavy snows, avalanches

Airports, rail lines closed

February 9, 1999 Web posted at: 10:34 a.m. EST (1534 GMT)

ZURICH (Reuters) -- Heavy snow and a threat of avalanches forced Swissauthorities on Tuesday to shut down roads, rail lines and airports in several Alpine ski regions.

The Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche research said more snow was onthe way.

About 50 flights were canceled and delays were reported on Tuesday morning at Zurich Airport, Switzerland's largest, because of the weather. The regional airport in Basel was also closed, the Swiss news agency SDA reported.

Snow claimed the lives of two people in Switzerland late on Sunday when an avalanche swept away the top floor of a cafe on the edge of the village of Wengen near the Alpine resort of Interlaken, killing the owner and his wife.

Local authorities on Monday evacuated 15 nearby homes and a hotel as a precaution in the village in central Switzerland, which hosted World Cup skiing events last month.

(Rudis chalet is luckily outside that "red zone").

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 02-09-99).]

Zurich-airport: Tuesday summary: a total of 205 (out of 400) starts annulated.

forecast Wednesday: 80% should be ok (with delays).

trains/freeways this wednesday:
North - South axes interrupted (avalange-danger): no trains at all running trough/over the alps - no road/train-connection at all between Tessin/Ticino (the italian speaking part) and the North-side of the alps (german and french speaking switzerland).

No connections /road/train) from/to Germany to/from Italy trough Switzerland.

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 02-10-99).]

(from ABC news)

Frustrated drivers in Zurich caused the cellular phone network to collapse. “A great number of people were stuck on the way to work and tried to phone in to the office,” Swisscom spokesman Sepp Huber said. “The system was just completely overloaded.”

Trains crossing Europe were also disrupted by snow drifts and avalanche threats. In Italy, a 21-year-old railway worker was run over by a train and killed as he was clearing snow from the track in the Valle d’Aosta region. The busy train stretch between Florence and Bologna was also closed. The well-known Simplon Express between Venice and Paris was forced to make long detours, while high-speed trains traveling between Switzerland and France were reduced to a snail’s pace.

at a press conference this Wednesday morning: Zurich airport (in the name of all airlines) informed, that hotel & meal-costs will be paid by the airlines. But they did also underline, that follow-up-costs (missed connections, etc) will not be covered, because the event was not in the airports/airlines responsability.

(But for sure the individual airlines will help - and also for sure: the help will depend on your ff-status and on the ticket-prize paid).

Zurich, local time 15:00, Wednesday)

no more SNOW delays (the sun is actually shining) - but very cold.

but still, for departing aircrafts, deicing delays between 40' (SR to Atlanta) and 2 hours (SR to JFK).

weatherforecast till Sunday:
*Cold (between minus 15 and minus 3 Centigrade)
*more Sun than Snow (expected another 5-15 Centimeters snow overall till Sunday evening).