It will float like winter air over many departments. Snow is expected over a large part of northern France, Thursday November 21, 2024, with the arrival of the Caetano depression. Météo France placed 28 departments on orange snow-ice alert in its latest bulletin, published this Wednesday late morning.
“The rain will arrive on Thursday at dawn over the Atlantic arc and will progress diagonally towards the axis of the Loire and the central-western regions”details The Weather Channel . The mild and humid air from this disturbance will meet the colder air settling over France since this Wednesday, resulting in snowfall which could reach several centimeters locally, from the start of the morning.
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Up to 10 cm in the West
“Overall, this snowy axis should stretch from interior Brittany to the south of Normandy, towards Maine, Beauce, the Central region, the south of the Paris basin, to slide during the afternoon towards the center east, on the edge of Franche-Comté and southern Alsace »specifies The Weather Channel.
According to Météo France, 1 to 3 cm of snow could fall in Paris and the inner suburbs, and up to 20 cm in the easternmost and higher altitude regions. In the West, 2 to 5 cm are expected in the north and center of Brittany, and up to 10 cm in the interior of Normandy.
School transport suspended in four Normandy departments
“These snowfalls are early in the season, but are not exceptional”tempers Météo France. At the same time, strong wind gusts are expected, reaching up to 120 km/h on the Atlantic coast. Temperatures will have difficulty exceeding 0°C locally in the northern half.
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“Traffic conditions could be difficult, particularly on the secondary network”with a whisk The Weather Channel. In Normandy, school transport is suspended in four departments (Orne, Calvados, Manche, Eure).
Rising temperatures forecast for the weekend
While it is now more than certain that snow will fall, uncertainties persist about its exact location. Some models, notably American and German, estimate that the disturbance will pass a little further south. If this were the case, the epicenter of the snowy episode would shift towards Brittany, the Nantes region and Auvergne.
Likewise, the thickness and hold of the snow on the ground remain to be determined. “It won't be powder, but heavy snow, because there will be a lot of humidity”predicts Yann Amice, meteorologist for Weather & Co.
And the rise in temperatures forecast for the weekend, after a “transition day” Friday when morning refreezes will be possible locally, should quickly bring a “big sweep” on this winter episode, indicates the expert.
