How long has it been since it snowed in Sarthe?

Does the memory of a snowball fight in the garden or at the park seem distant to you? Time passes quickly, but the winters come and go without it really depositing its snowy coat on the soils of Sarthe. While Météo France has placed the department, like a large part of France, on orange alert for snowfall and ice, this Thursday, November 21, 2024, the temptation to keep a carrot to decorate a snowman is great.

+ Heavy snow, polar temperatures: the worst winters in Sarthe

According to Météo France data, a few flakes nevertheless fell during the winter of 2023-2024. The organization noted seven days of snowfall, but of low intensity. At the beginning of January, particularly in the north of Sarthe, snow arrived, sometimes surprising motorists.

On the night of January 17 to 18, 2024, where the quantity of snow that fell, even small, and the cold disrupted the movement of trains and vehicles on departmental roads. But much less than that winter day in 1928 when 60 cm of snow had accumulated in the streets of Le Mans…

To find a greater thickness, you must turn the pages of the calendar. It was during the winter of 2020-2021 that Sarthe experienced a significant snow episode. In February, the Le Mans FC players even had to adapt their training, the pitch being impassable: Didier Ollé-Nicolle's men took advantage of this opportunity to work on placement and ball circulation… but by hand. Since, it was with a rugby ball that the Sarthois chained the passes then described Maine Libre. If skis and sleds were out to entertain the children in the parks, nearly 400 truckers were stuck on the A81 waiting for the thaw. The episode lasted several days, at the time when the French still had to respect the curfew in the midst of the Covid-19 health crisis.

This Thursday, Météo France predicts snowfall then a refreezing phenomenon. The episode will begin in Brittany at the end of the night, before reaching Normandy and the north of Pays de la Loire. Precipitation will be low but continuous specialists say. Over the entire episode, we expect 1 to 5 cm of snow on the ground, locally 5 to 10 cm in areas of relief (interior of Brittany and especially Normandy).