According to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, the 1,200km-long Alps, which runs directly through Switzerland as well as seven other alpine nations, received "a great deal of snowfall" over the past few days — such as great deal in fact, that Switzerland's all-time November snowfall record was surpassed on the 17th!
By Sunday, Nov 17th, a staggering 71cm (2.33ft) had accumulated in Santa Maria, located in eastern Switzerland, which busted the country's previous November snowfall record — the 69cm (2.26 ft) set back in 1959,also in Santa Maria.
The heavy, early-season snow is still disrupting road and rail transport with several key passes closed for the foreseeable, according to traffic information service Viasuisse.
Access to ski areas such as of Saas Fee and Saas Grund is impossible. While many roads in canton Graubünden, particularly around Davos, Arosa and Silvaplana, are also blocked by monster snow drifts.
In addition, the avalanche danger is at "considerable" in most of southeastern Switzerland, according to the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, where a number of deaths have already been reported.
This amazing video (below) was doing the rounds on social media earlier in the week — it shows a powerful avalanche crashing through buildings in Martello, an Italian section of the alps located just a few miles SE from the Switzerland-Italy border:
The lower-latitudes are refreezing in line with historically low solar activity.
NASA has revealed this upcoming solar cycle (25) will be "the weakest of the past 200 years," and they've correlated previous solar shutdowns to prolonged periods of global cooling here.
Comment: Record November snowfall in Switzerland affects ski stations and roads - almost 28 inches recorded