Lucerne weather in December

December at Engelberg is an altitude story with a wide spread. The forum's own figures put Titlis in a -20C to 0C range and the village at -10C to +10C, which is why a late-December day can mean no snow in Engelberg, sleet at the mid-station and snow only at the top. Above about 2,000m - the Trubsee area and up - there is a fair chance of enough for winter sports, and in November the skiing is usually confined to Klein Titlis at the summit. The other advice is to pick a clear day, because there is little to do up there in heavy snow, and the light goes early: sunrise about 08:10, sunset 16:41. The record: 3.8C days that feel like 1C, -2.9C nights, 48cm of snow and 5 hours of sun.

Forum posters describe March in Lucerne as genuinely unpredictable - sometimes cold and wet, sometimes dry and sunny - with fog no more common here than in Zurich or elsewhere in Switzerland, and no reliable way to predict conditions more than a day or two ahead. Posters cite typical lower-elevation temperatures ranging from 0 to 20C, with sun, fog, rain and even snow all realistic possibilities within the same week. Posters are consistent that by late March, snow is gone from the lake plain but still very present in the mountains, giving visitors a genuine choice: stay around Lucerne and the lake for a springlike feel, or head up to Titlis above Engelberg or Rigi for a proper winter scene. Posters generally recommend checking forecasts close to travel dates rather than planning weather-dependent activities too far in advance.

September is the forum's pick for Lucerne — the August crowds gone, a first crispness in the mountains, and weather at least as good as August as often as not. Days run about 20°C, evenings cooler, with one caveat the record supplies: rain falls on nearly fifteen days. Regulars call September "not especially rainy as a rule" while also warning it can go from fully sunny to fully wet inside a day, which is the more useful half of that. Pack layers, waterproof shoes and a rain jacket for the mountains, plus high-factor sun cream. Snow in Lucerne itself would be very unusual; Titlis has it year-round, being a glacier.