Five departments are placed on orange snow-ice alert on December 1 and 2 by Météo France. Corsica is on alert for strong winds expected this Saturday.
Snow is coming at low altitude and bad weather is approaching. Meteo France has placed the northern Alps region on orange alert from this Friday. Among the departments directly affected by the snow alert are Savoie and Haute-Savoie, Isère, Ain and Loire. “Snowfall could be of moderate intensity and could pose a problem for road traffic” warns the meteorological agency with a white layer of 5 to 10 cm over eastern Ain, Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Isère and from 400 meters in the Alpine departments. We also expect 5 to 10 cm around 500 m altitude in the south of the Loire and a little snow also “around 600 to 800 meters above sea level in the Massif Central”. This snow and ice vigilance will extend across the five departments until Saturday, December 2.
If snow will fall in places, rain is also expected in Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Isère, Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The meteorological agency strongly recommends that these departments be attentive to the risk of flooding and heavy rain which could lead to flooding. This risk of flooding is explained by the melting of snow already present on the hills, to which is added the rain which has been falling since Thursday. Météo France specifies that the expected accumulations for this episode of disturbance will be between 70 and 120 mm with peaks of up to 150 mm in the Northern Alps and 200 mm in the Southern Alps. A lull is expected from Saturday.
New stormy winds in Corsica this Saturday
The whole of Corsica is placed on orange alert for violent winds for the day of Saturday December 2 by Météo France. Météo France specifies that “this event promises to be more widespread and stronger than the recent episodes of November 16 and 28.” Gusts of between 120 and 150 km/h are expected in the Balagne region, located on the northwest coast of the island, as well as in the east and in the mountains from low to medium altitude, according to the bulletin.
The west wind will blow around 180 km/h on Cap Corse and Cap Sagro. The agency specifies that this is, however, a “stormy episode in Corsica, not exceptional, but requiring particular vigilance”. This episode of violent winds should calm down on Saturday evening.