A few days before the opening of the ski resorts, this is good news for the Southern Alps: the snow is making a comeback with a beautiful “winter episode of snow”. Météo France describes it as “not exceptional for the regions concerned but sufficiently notable to make traffic conditions difficult.”
That in fact, as of this Thursday morning, snow could fall from an altitude of 300m to 400m and whiten the landscape. In the Durance valley, Météo France expects a few centimeters of snow which could hold from Saint-Auban.
But it is really only after the natural barrier of Sisteron that snow is seriously forecast. Météo France awaits up to 10cm of snow at La Saulce and well beyond going up the valleys. The A51 motorway could therefore be directly affected and potentially paralyzed.
It is really during the day on Thursday and in the evening that the bulk of the snowfall is expected in the Hautes-Alpes and in a large northern and eastern part of the Alpes de Haute-Provence.
The quantities of snow expected by Météo France:
– at 400 m are 5 to 10 cm
– at 800 m from 15 to 30 cm
– from 1200 m to 1500 m 20 to 40 cm
– at 2000 m from 40 to 60 cm
Météo France also announces around twenty centimeters for the towns of Gat and Embrun. Please note that the western slopes of the massifs will be the most exposed.
In short, a nice winter scene which is making a comeback but also, and very probably, significant difficulties to be expected on the traffic routes this weekend in the Southern Alps.
France
