Storms, hail and heavy accumulations of rain: five departments on orange alert, what to expect this Wednesday?

This Wednesday, August 17, major storms are expected over a large part of France.

Storm, hail and deluge on the menu for this Wednesday, August 17. Even more than the day before, the day should be marked by significant bad weather. According the Weather Channelshe might even be the worst of the episode.

And it should start very early this morning, with, according to Meteo France, “thunderstorms that can be violent from the east of Languedoc to the lower Rhone valley and as far as the Var” which can be “associated with strong gusts of wind and significant hailstorms”.

Forecasters kept five departments on orange alert for this day: Hérault, Gard, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône and Var.

Very high intensity in Occitania

During the episode, we noted 75 mm at Montarnaud, 97 mm at Puechabon including 86 mm in one hourindicate the forecasters of Météo France in their 6 a.m. bulletin this Wednesday, August 17.

Hail, intense electrical activity and strong gusts were observed: 103 km/h at Aigues-Mortes, 89 km/h at Arles, 98 km/h at Cap Couronne.

Calm in the evening

The Weather Channel specifies that “the strongest storms will be observed on the Cévennes chain” where accumulations of up to 150 mm might cause “of the reactions of rivers and mountain torrents”.

#thunderstorms : the cumulative rainfall expected until tomorrow evening u26c8ufe0f is worrying between the Cévennes and the Bouches-du-Rhône, with values ​​that can reach 100 to 150 mm, or even more. These accumulations will fall especially during the day on Wednesday, when the alert will be extended u203cufe0f pic.twitter.com/MAPmeehiub

— The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) August 16, 2022

In addition, throughout the day, “the sustained stormy showers persist” with “heavy accumulations of rain” envisaged. Bad weather is also expected in the followingnoon on the Côte-d’Azur, the middle Rhone Valley, the Massif Central and in the northeast of the country.

As Météo France indicates, “the storms continue their way eastward and cross the Var, these storms can be violent with strong rainfall intensities, locally reaching 80 mm in a short time, with hail, and strong gusts of wind of the order of 80 to 100 km/h. Eddy phenomena are also possible in coastal areas.

On the cumulative side, we can reach locally “100 to 150 mm under less mobile storms on the Hérault and the Gard. In the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var, the accumulations over the episode might reach 100 to 130mm”.

In the evening and during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the lull should be clear with the return of a less agitated sky.