Orange and yellow vigilance
Among the 33 departments of France placed on orange alert for snow and ice by Météo France on Thursday evening was Haut-Rhin.
This vigilance was extended until this Friday noon. Bas-Rhin has been placed on yellow alert. The snow in the East is one of the manifestations of the Caetano storm, which causes other inconveniences in other departments.
Up to 15 cm of snow in South Alsace?
It has already whitened the summits of the Vosges on Tuesday and Wednesday. This Thursday, at the beginning of the afternoon, the webcams from the Col de la Schlucht showed the road very quickly covered with a thin layer of snow, set to become increasingly thick.
At Champ du Feu, in Bas-Rhin, it was planned to reopen the beginner alpine ski area while cross-country ski trails have already been traced. The Markstein was to decide on a possible opening this Thursday evening or Friday morning.
The first snowflakes fell on Mulhouse from 3 p.m. and Colmar from 4 p.m., at the same time as the mercury began to flirt with 0°C. It is also in the south of Alsace, in particular in the Alsatian Jura, in the Sundgau, that the greatest accumulations of precipitation, up to 10, even 15 centimeters, are expected. In Strasbourg, the first snowfall appeared shortly before 6:30 p.m. As for localities based north of Haguenau, they should see very little snow. Or not at all.
Passes closed to heavy goods vehicles, school transport prohibited
Traffic difficulties arose quickly, with snow depths of 7 cm in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, 5 cm in Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines and even 3 cm in the south of Bas-Rhin.
The European Community of Alsace, manager of the majority of the Alsatian road network, has mobilized some 500 agents on board 105 snow removal machines. 148 snow removal circuits are programmed, operating 30 road centers to cover 6,410 km of roads.
In Mulhouse, m2A agents began their road and sidewalk salting operations late in the afternoon. Given the expected deterioration of traffic conditions, particularly in Haut-Rhin, the prefect of the department, Thierry Queffélec, issued an order prohibiting the circulation of vehicles assigned to school transport this Friday on the entire departmental road network . Parents of students were informed Thursday evening by SMS. The passes of Ballon d'Alsace, Oderen, Bramont, Schlucht, Bonhomme, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Saâles, Hantz, Donon and Valsberg are prohibited for the movement of weights. heavy from Thursday, November 21 at 8 p.m. to Friday, November 22 at 7 a.m.
Heavy goods vehicles will be able to travel to the Vosges from Alsace via the Bussang pass or the Maurice-Lemaire Tunnel.
Given the risk of a refreeze overnight, the authorities called on motorists to exercise great caution this Friday morning. Forecasters are predicting a clear warm spell from Saturday which should cause most of the snow cover to melt.
In Germany
In the Black Forest, the Feldberg resort announced this Thursday that it would be able to open two small lifts in the Feldberg alpine ski area this weekend: a ski lift and a conveyor belt. The facilities will operate on Saturday November 23 and Sunday November 24 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A few kilometers of Nordic ski trails will also be prepared. The “official” opening of the season on the highest peak in the Black Forest is scheduled for December 6.
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