Of
Monday December 23 at 8:00 a.m. au
Monday December 23 at 5:00 p.m.
Situation
A depression named Enol deepened north of Scotland on Saturday before plunging into the Mediterranean on Monday. Fed by maritime polar air and by a very powerful high-altitude jet stream at nearly 250 km/h, this depression is the cause of very turbulent weather in the south and east of France until this 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 becomes high this Monday.
Parallel to the passage of this depression, with the plunge of polar air into the Mediterranean, violent winds sweep the south-east, in the form of violent mistral and turbulent tramontane until Monday. The wind falls in Corsica.
During this episode of bad weather, we wait
– Up to 40 cm to 1 m of snow above 1800 meters in the Pyrenees and the Alps, and a high risk of avalanche
– 30 to 40 cm of snow on the Jura and the Massif Central around 1200 meters
– violent winds in the mountains at more than 100 km/h
– a violent gale near the Mediterranean this Monday at more than 100 km/h until Monday noon with gusts reaching 130 to 140 km/h on exposed capes.
Observation
A 11h
The wind blows strongly in the south-east, but is mainly confined to the reliefs (hinterlands) and exposed capes (around 100 km/h in the south of the Var). The gusts remain strong in the mountains (100 to 110 km/h) as well as in Roussillon (105 km/h in Perpignan).
We recorded 134 km/h in Hyères, a monthly record exceeding the 115 km/h of December 2003.
Snowfall persists in the center-east and has whitened the large intramountain valleys. We noted 6 cm in Annecy (74).
This morning at 8:00 a.m.:
Mistral and tramontane blow strongly in their areas.
The snow fell to around 500 m altitude. Thicknesses of 10 cm are noted around 700 to 800 m in the Northern Alps. In Isère, the snow fell in the valleys with a dusting (2 to 3 cm) in Grésivaudan.
Evolution
This Monday Morningsnowfall persists in the Pyrenees, the Massif Central, the Jura, the Vosges and the north of the Alps above 500 to 800 meters depending on the massifs. Snowdrifts of nearly 1.50 m can form from Haute-Savoie to Isère. The risk of avalanche becomes strong or even maximum. In the Mediterranean, the episode of violent mistral and tramontane begins to weaken at midday. In Corsica, the wind is now falling.
Starting this Monday afternoon, the bad weather ends, replaced by calmer and anticyclonic weather subsequently, which is why this special press release will be lifted. However, the mistral and the tramontane persist until the evening in their domains with gusts still reaching 100 km/h, as well as in the mountains.
During this episode of bad weather, we expect:
– Up to 50 cm to 1 m of snow above 1800 meters in the Pyrenees and the Alps
– 30 cm of snow on the Jura and the Massif Central around 1200 meters
– violent winds in the mountains at more than 100 km/h
– a violent gale near the Mediterranean this Monday at more than 100 km/h until Monday noon with gusts reaching 130 to 140 km/h.
