an October of all records, up to 26.8°C in Puy-en-Velay
The wave of autumn sweetness, even the heat, will go down in history. 26.8°C was recorded at the height of the afternoon in Puy-en-Velay, Friday, October 28. The highest temperature measured in Haute-Loire for the month of October. “It is above average for the season”, explains Christophe Mertz, meteorologist at MeteoNews.
And beyond this historical peak, the month of October this year was the hottest recorded in the department: the average of the highest temperature was 20.3 ° C, or 5.5 ° C above normal for the season. The same goes for the average of the lowest temperature recorded each day, which stands at 8.5°C, therefore 3.6 points above normal.
18 days above 20°C, unheard of
Among the broken records still, the number of days with a temperature recorded above 20 ° C: this month of October 2022 counts as 18, up to Monday 31 inclusive. “A never-seen figure”, again.
In addition to being hot, the month is relatively dry, with an average of 24 mm of rain. “This is a relatively low average for the department,” according to MeteoNews. There was little rain towards the end of the year, which was all the more troubling after a particularly dry summer. Therefore, this month’s rainfall is not enough to make up for the delay already incurred.
The next few days should continue to experience abnormally mild temperatures, but less extreme than the end of this month, with rain likely to arrive at the weekend.
Records everywhere in France
Right now, it’s impossible to know how to predict winter based on the last few weeks’ data. “It’s like making a crystal ball,” says Christophe Mertz. There is no direct correlation between the temperatures of October, or even November, during the winter”.
The department is therefore in line with the national trend, especially in the past two weeks with historic temperatures everywhere in the territory. In the second half of the month, the “national thermal indicator”, which lists average temperatures at a panel of French weather stations, indicates almost daily temperatures of 4°C or higher than normal.
Snow on October 29, 2018: “Hasn’t come since the 1940s”
Four years later and heat records were broken for the month of October this year, the situation experienced on Monday, October 29, 2018 seems a long way off. And yet… Remember. miles of traffic jams, shipwrecked motorists and emergency accommodation, this episode must be branded. Rarely, to say never, has snow caused chaos in the Haute-Loire.
RN88 was paralyzed for 24 hours
This first attack of winter remains in the memory: 949 motorists did not go home, 800 cars and trucks were abandoned on the national road, 15 emergency shelters had to be opened in twelve municipalities, the RN88 was paralyzed in almost twenty-four time between Le Puy-en-Velay and Saint-Étienne. 55 cm of snow fell in Yssingeaux and Tarentaise (Loire), 17 cm in Saint-Étienne for one night. A phenomenon of extreme rarity before All Saints Day in the departments of Loire and Haute-Loire. “It’s not that the period is so rare, but the amount of snowfall. This has not happened since the 1940s,” said Frédéric Decker, meteorologist at Météonews. A surprise for the motorists who were quickly shocked by the snowflakes and especially for the State services – whose communication was also missed -, with the snow removal. The latter, sometimes blocked by vehicles without special tires, did not reach the places where things were stuck before it was too late. Above all, the weather forecast is not up to scratch with snowfall above (8 to 10 cm per hour). However, the snow removal machines are not available in the morning.
By 9:30 am, the snow had doubled in intensity and by noon users were trapped. For example, a resident of Unieux (Loire) took 4:20 to get home from Yssingeaux, from 3:45 pm to 8:05 pm
