Weather alert: intense rains, violent thunderstorms in the south-east – La Chaîne Météo

From Monday October 4 at 9:00 a.m. to Monday October 4 at 10:00 p.m.

Situation

After a very hectic weekend in France, new violent thunderstorms hit the south-east on Monday. A depression has widened between the Balearic Islands and Sardinia and brought up unstable air and violent thunderstorms over the south-east of the country. These often stationary thunderstorms generate very violent precipitation this Monday morning, in particular in the Bouches-du-Rhône. A lull is expected in the middle of the morning before a very clear resumption of activity this afternoon and until the evening, giving rise to fears of major flooding, in particular in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, due to the accumulations already observed this morning.

Observation

This Monday

At 9 o’clock, the improvement is noticeable in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, while heavy downpours still hit the west of the Var. Over the last 12 hours, we note up to 173 mm in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), 166 mm in Peypin (Bouches-du-Rhône), 161 mm in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône) and 157 mm in Mimet (Bouches-du-Rhône).

At 7, last night was very rough in the lower Rhone valley and in Provence with powerful lines of thunderstorms coming up from the Mediterranean and causing torrential rains. It thus fell nearly 100 mm on Marseille, including 73 mm in the space of 2 hours at the end of the night. Currently, these storms continue with a particularly active cell between Marseille and Toulon.
Since yesterday we have seen 110 mm in Lapalud (Vaucluse), 109 mm in Gréasque (Bouches-du-Rhône) and 94 mm in Orange (Vaucluse).

Evolution

Here is the chronology of this important and lasting episode of bad weather

This morning, violent thunderstorms are rising from the Mediterranean towards the Bouches-du-Rhône, bringing several tens of millimeters more to those already fallen last night in these sectors. A lull is expected around 10am with still stormy showers but not commensurate with those of the night.

This afternoon, a new stormy area rises from the Mediterranean between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thunderstorms can be very violent again with hourly intensities of around 40 to 60 mm in the Bouches-du-Rhône, raising fears of significant flooding in the department. The other departments on alert are also concerned, in particular initially the Vaucluse and the south of the Drome, as well as the west of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Var. Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., thunderstorm cells also affect eastern Corsica with sometimes comparable intensities, then it is the turn of the Alpes-Maritimes department to be affected.

Tonight, the stormy intensity remains marked from Provence to Corsica, but the hourly intensities gradually weaken in the second part of the evening and this press release will be closed at 10 p.m.

During this bad weather episode we wait

– very intense precipitation with accumulations of around 50 mm in a few hours
– accumulations of 80 to 120 mm rather generalized which will come to be added to what already fell last night in particular on the department of Bouches du Rhône.
– strong thunderstorms in the Rhône valley and in Provence Côte d’Azur with a risk of hailstorms
– a high risk of urban runoff, floods and flooding in the sectors most exposed to heavy rains and stationary storms.
– risks of vortex phenomena, in particular in coastal areas (waterspouts and tornadoes).

List of departments concerned