The data recorded by the Météo France stations in Fontannes and Lavoûte-Chilhac are clear: over the last thirty years, it has never rained as much as in 2024.
The month of November has barely begun and 2024 is already a historic year. Indeed, the meteorological station installed in Fontannes recorded 792 mm of precipitation over the last ten months, while the previous record, observed in 1992, was 774.6 mm. This is well above the annual normal, estimated at 611.9 mm.
These bridges and footbridges which disappeared after the floods in Haute-Loire
If, with the exception of January and August, the rainfall has always been in excess of this normal, three months stand out: May with 145.3 mm, September with 142 mm and March with 115.5 mm. . It was also during this that the Fontannes station recorded, for the moment, the rainiest day of the year: 67.5 mm, on March 9.
The months of March, May and September on the podium
On the Lavoûte-Chilhac side, no historical record has been recorded – at the same time, it should be noted that it was created in 1935, compared to only 1991 for that of Fontannes. Nevertheless, a record over the last thirty years has been observed. From January to the end of October, the Lavoûte-Chilhac station recorded 786 mm of precipitation. Unheard of since 930 mm (over 12 months) in 1994.
Here again, the months of May, September and March were the rainiest. But the order of the podium is different, compared to Fontannes. With 133.8 mm, March is the highest, followed by May (117.8 mm) and September (113.3 mm). As for the day with the most rain, the prize goes to March 9, with 68.4 mm.
A historic year even at department level
These two stations are absolutely not isolated cases. In fact, the entire Haute-Loire department experienced a record year in terms of rainfall. Over the last ten months, 1,046 mm of rain have been recorded, while the annual normal is 830 mm. This is also the fourth total ever recorded by the department's stations. And the first step is really not far: 1,068 mm in 1977. So, a historic record by the end of the year cannot be ruled out.
Also note that if the west of the department recorded impressive data, in the east, they are even more so: between 1,100 and 1,800 mm, compared to 800 to 1,000 mm for the western half. This difference is explained in particular by the Foehn effect. “It is a meteorological phenomenon which occurs near large mountain ranges, such as the Margeride, explains Didier Rousseau, expert at the Lyon regional center of Météo France. After crossing the summits, the clouds heat up and dry out by air compression. The eastern half of the department does not have this protection. Worse still, it bears the brunt of the Cévennes episodes coming from the South.
Timothé Soulié
