I'm looking for somewhere to live and a couple of people have told me that towns around lake Zürich are often foggy whilst other towns such as Einsiedeln, which are higher up are not nearly as foggy. Having not lived near the lake (or Switzerland for that matter), how much foggier is it than towns like Einsiedeln?
(12 days to go until I fly over...)
dave
I like the fog though.
Personally I find it lass foggy here than where I'm from in the Midlands (UK)
You can check out this table which shows the percentage of sunny hours per month for different towns in CH. From this you can see that in Zürich Kloten you only have 13% sunshine in the winter months (i.e., the sun only shines on ~3 days per month). Some of the places at higher altitudes do get significantly more sunshine (more like 50%), but I don't know whether Einsiedeln is high enough to be above the fog most of the time (the altitude of the fog varies between 500 and 1500m).
Just some anecdotal evidence - I often drive up to Einsiedeln in winter and fall when I can't stand the fog around Zurich anymore (always check the webcam to see whether its sunny) and most of the time it really is much better up there.
Einsiedeln is relatively close to Pfäffikon and Horgen - so if you work there its an interesting option (beautiful landscape also makes it nice in the summer).
Overall, I've never seen another place which is as foggy and grey as Zurich - even London always seems much sunnier when I travel there for business trips.
See you all somewhere above 1000m in Oct-Dec!
about March.
If you work in Zürich, Einsiedeln is quite far.
The big advantage here over Bedfordshire, is that, with autumn fog in the valleys in autumn, with ever meter you go up, the chance of sun increases. Until very recently (until Einsiedeln had its Webcams so that everyone could look themselves) there was a large notice-board at Wädenswil station with the notice 'Einsiedeln hell' (bright) when the sun was shining! Folk who are free in the the daytime just go up for a couple of hours. Zürichsee has much less fog than parts of the Aargau anyway, where one can go a fortnight without a ray of sun (we lived there for eleven years!) and without the Lake Zürich benefit of hills a short distance away.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. And going up to Hirzel throught the mist into the sunshine when there has been fog there in the night and seeing every tree, every fence, every blade of grass sparkling with hoar frost - that is something worth seeing.
As you know, I live in Einsiedeln area and for one year, I travelled each day to Pfaffikon...like someone else said on this thread. Its foggy by the lake, but I think its foggy for a longer period though than said..I think from Nov - Jan period...
Einsiedeln is 800m above sea, and mostly sunny, while pfaffikon etc are foggy on those days.
However, Eins. get a lot of QUICK rain, out of nowhere, the storms just come up and rain - guess its actually stunning, and its over quickly (mountain weather)...
If you want seasons...Eins. is hig enough to have full snow that stays, while the pfaffikon areas are a bit lower, and the snow falls overnight, but all melts on a sunny day again.
Einsiedeln is on average 4 degrees cooler/colder? than pfaffikon. Eins. have tractors, cows and pfaffikon, well not hehehehehe. Eins have flies, pfaffikon have mozzies?
We're at 780 meters, and are often above the fog line while the lakeside folks sit in the Nebelsuppe. And we still have a beautiful view of the lake (assuming there is no fog on the lake, and thus something to see), as well as into the mountains.
There are days, however, when we are smack dab in the middle of a cloud. I rather enjoy it then - cozy, in an eerie sort of way. If I feel the need for sun, a walk up the Etzel or Rossberg (ca 1100 meters) usually does it.
Both Schindellegi and Feusisberg are small villages - you have to like that kind of life. I do, very much.
(It also helps if you find the sound of cowbells soothing... )
But if sun is really important, perhaps the Pfannenstiel area would be better for you.