Switzerland 
In numbers.
116m
Height
0.84m³/s
Average flow
estimate
Apr–Jul
Best months
960kW
Water power
estimate
The water at Pissevache, month by month
It roars from April to May.
The fullest months: from April to May, with the snowmelt.
- 0.6 m³/sJan
- 0.4 m³/sFeb
- 1.1 m³/sMar
- 1.6 m³/sApr
- 1.5 m³/sMay
- 1.1 m³/sJun
- 0.8 m³/sJul
- 0.8 m³/sAug
- 0.6 m³/sSep
- 0.6 m³/sOct
- 0.7 m³/sNov
- 0.7 m³/sDec
From about 0.42 m³/s in the lowest month to 1.6 m³/s in the highest. Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from April to July.
Estimate: the timing comes from rain, snowmelt and evaporation (NASA POWER, 1991–2020); the amounts from the river model of HydroATLAS (WaterGAP, 1971–2000). Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in the canton of Valais
Pissevache is a waterfall in Switzerland. The water falls 116 m.
Getting there.
- Vernayaznearest town · 1.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 660 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Geneva International Airport (GVA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 71 km in a straight lineCar hire at GVA airport (Geneva)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From April to Julybest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
How big is it?
How big it really is.
Height of the drop from Wikidata. Buildings and the person are drawn at the same scale.
960 kW
About 0.84 m³/s falling 116 m: the power of the water as it drops.
- enough to power about 240 homes, if it were all turned into electricity
Power of falling water = density × gravity × flow × height. Average flow and height as shown above; an estimate.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 846 m in 2.3 km.
What is around.
- 3viewpointsGorges du Dailley
- 21waymarked walking routesVia Francigena, Tour du Vallon de Van, Tour de la Vallée du Trient and 18 more
- 52car parks
- —swimming spots
- 10picnic sites
- 4toilets
- 6information boards and visitor centres
- 1bus stops within 1 km
- 2other named waterfalls within 4 kmPissevache, La fontaine des bouquetins
- 1caves
- 8campsitesCamping Les Marécottes, Camping La Châtaigneraie, Peutex and 5 more
- 32hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmAuberge de l'Armailli, Campanile Martigny, Hôtel de la Gare and 29 more
- 19restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Vernayaz1.8 km in a straight line
- Salvan2.4 km in a straight line
- Evionnaz4.6 km in a straight line
- Martigny-Ville6.0 km in a straight line
- Martigny-Combe7.4 km in a straight line
- Fully7.6 km in a straight line
- Saint-Maurice8.8 km in a straight line
- Charrat9.0 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 2 |
| Night °C | -7 | -7 | -3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | -1 | -5 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 107 | 77 | 94 | 74 | 117 | 105 | 103 | 105 | 76 | 86 | 94 | 110 |
| Wet days | 12 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| Sun h/day | 3.3 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 49 | 62 | 46 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,169 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 54% | 206% | 105% | 67% | 97% | 145% | 50% | 116% | 136% | 209% | 24% | 70% |
| 2021 | 146% | 67% | 73% | 63% | 124% | 103% | 147% | 64% | 93% | 62% | 59% | 162% |
| 2022 | 39% | 119% | 19% | 126% | 57% | 75% | 33% | 55% | 179% | 107% | 104% | 113% |
| 2023 | 72% | 8% | 186% | 138% | 76% | 101% | 68% | 101% | 87% | 167% | 272% | 194% |
| 2024 | 101% | 88% | 142% | 128% | 156% | 161% | 102% | 78% | 280% | 175% | 79% | 110% |
| 2025 | 124% | 39% | 41% | 141% | 88% | 92% | 102% | 91% | 175% | 157% | 106% | 28% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Pissevache
Switzerland
- 116 mHeight
- 0.84 m³/sAverage flow
- Apr–JulBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q3389250) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| River flow and catchment | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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