Weather in switzerland has a lot o local differences... On the southern side of the alps the climate is a little bit warmer than in the north, but the really important thing to consider is that the alps form a barrier that separates two completely different aspect of a weather situation. For example there may be a high-pressure area in Italy and low pressure in central Europe, so there will be southern wind crossing the alps. While ascending in southern Switzerland the air will get cooler, vapour will condensate and there will be rain. North of the alps the falling wind will be dry and warm (föhn). Often föhn wind brings a little sunshine in the Rhine valley between Chur and Lake Constance and in the Reuss valley from Altdorf to Lucerne while there are clouds over northern Switzerland. The same effect can of course also be observed in opposite direction. When consulting a weather forecast for Switzerland it is therefore very important to focus exactly on the correct region. In a few mile, here in Lugano with the lake during the night in winter temperature is between 0 and -5 degree, 15 km south ( without lake but always at low level ) between -5 and -10 degree. In the Southern region (Ticino area), a much higher average precipitation amount of about 2000 mm/year (78 inches) is observed. In 2010 for example 2460 mm rain ( 97 inches ). Rain and snow event are rather short but often very intense, for example 100 mm in a day in southern switzerland it's not exceptional. Everywhere, except for the Valais region, the amount of rainfall is approximately twice as large in the summer as in the wintertime.