Of
Sunday December 22 at 0:00 au
Monday December 23 at 9:00 a.m.
Situation
A depression named Enol is deepening north of Scotland this Saturday before plunging into the Mediterranean on Monday. Fed by maritime polar air and a very powerful jet stream at more than 250 km/h, this depression is the cause of very turbulent weather in France on Sunday and Monday.
A situation which complicates access to ski resorts. Indeed, heavy falls occur in the mountains, bringing a blizzard with violent winds. The avalanche risk will become strong on Monday.
Parallel to the passage of this depression, a gale swept across the Channel coasts on Sunday with gusts of more than 100 km/h. As the stormy squalls pass, gusts of more than 120 km/h are possible on the exposed capes and coasts of northern Brittany as well as between Granville and Cherbourg.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, with the plunge of polar air into the Mediterranean, violent winds will sweep the south-east then Corsica on Monday.
Observation
At the end of the day on Saturday, the Enol depression was located in the north of Scotland with an estimated pressure of 960 hPa closest to the center. This depression was beginning to begin its descent towards the North Sea. The associated disturbance was located over southern England and heading towards the English Channel.
Evolution
During the night from Saturday to Sundaythe cold front sweeps the north of the country. The wind is strengthening along the Channel to 100 km/h. In the Vosges, the Jura, the Massif Central and the north of the Alps, snowfall begins above 800 meters in the Vosges, 1300 meters in the Pyrenees and the Alps, and 1500 meters in the Pyrenees.
Sundaybe careful, because the wind blows violently at more than 100 km/h along the Channel with peaks around 120/130 km/h on the coasts of Brittany and Cotentin. At the same time, the wind strengthens and reaches 100 km/h in the south of the Massif Central, the Alps and the Pyrenees in the afternoon where the rain/snow limit drops to around 1000 meters.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, with unstable polar air plunging into the Mediterranean, blizzard conditions set in over the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Alps and the Jura. The wind blows at nearly 100 km/h and forms snowdrifts. The wind is blowing like a storm at 110 km/h in gusts in Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence Côte d'Azur and Corsica. At the same time, the wind quickly weakened near the English Channel.
Mondaysnowfall persists in the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and the north of the Alps above 500 to 1000 meters depending on the massifs. Snowdrifts of nearly 1 to 2 meters may form. The risk of avalanche becomes strong, even maximum. In the Mediterranean, the mistral and tramontane storm begins to weaken at midday.
From Monday evening, the bad weather ends, replaced by calmer and anticyclonic weather subsequently, which is why this special press release will be lifted.
During this episode of bad weather, we expect:
– Up to 40 cm to 1 m of snow above 1800 meters in the Pyrenees and the Alps
– 20 to 70 cm of snow on the Jura and the Massif Central
– violent winds in the mountains at more than 100 km/h
– a strong gale along the Channel on Sunday and near the Mediterranean on Monday at more than 100 km/h. In the English Channel, due to a low tidal coefficient (45 on Sunday), the risk of coastal submersion at high tide seems low.
