Météo France mentions an “early winter episode” but not exceptional, and “notable enough to make traffic conditions difficult”. Several centimeters of snow are expected in the coming hours in a large northern half of France. From east to west, dozens of departments have been placed on orange snow-ice alert by the forecaster, including the whole of Île-de-France. And if this orange vigilance is to come into effect at 6 a.m., the flakes will fall throughout the day.
According to the GFS weather model (for Global Forecast System, from the American meteorological services), for which Météo Ciel broadcasts forecasts in three-hour increments, it could start snowing at dawn with the arrival of storm Caetano, first in northern Brittany, then in Pays de la Loire and Normandy. Gradually, the snow disturbance will shift towards the east of the country to reach Île-de-France around 10 a.m.
At midday, Île-de-France should be covered in white snowflakes. These will continue to fall elsewhere, notably in Normandy, where accumulations could be significant. It will snow for a large part of the afternoon in this part of the country. The snow will leave the West, then Île-de-France, between 4 and 7 p.m. In the evening, until late at night, it is expected to continue snowing in the east of the country.
The disturbance “will give snow, from 1 to 3 cm possible in Paris and the inner suburbs, up to 7 cm in Essonne and more in the regions further east and at altitude (up to 20 cm from near Belfort)”, predicted Météo France on Wednesday. “More unusually for the season, the snow will also affect northern and central Brittany (2 to 5 cm) and the interior of Normandy where accumulations could reach 10 cm on the Norman hills,” continues the forecaster, evoking possible “transport problems” due to “wet” snow.
It snows relatively little at this time of year, indicates Météo France, but this “snowfall is not exceptional”. “More remarkable episodes may have occurred in the past, such as in 2010 (from November 25 to December 3) or in 2013 (from November 19 to 22), specifies the forecaster. Other less significant episodes have recently occurred in November, such as in 2017, 2018 or 2019.”
