Be careful this Friday. Languedoc could experience a major rainy episode, according to forecasters. Météo France indicates that thunderstorms, favored by the presence of cold air at altitude, will break out this afternoon, in Hérault and Gard, from the Cévennes to the Rhône Valley, and on the reliefs of Vaucluse.
The thunderstorms will become particularly active in the late afternoon and early evening this Friday, “with strong electrical activity accompanied by hail and gusts at 80 km / h”. The expected rainfall accumulations, continues Météo France, are of the order of 50 to 80 mm, and up to 100 mm occasionally. In addition, the establishment of stationary precipitation “over 2 or 3 hours is not excluded, but this should not give much higher accumulations”, note its services.
“It’s considerable”
For Loïc Spadafora, forecaster at Météo Occitanie, it is a “virulent stormy deterioration” which could fall on the departments of Hérault and Gard. He even announces more significant accumulations than those feared by Météo France, “of the order of 100 to 150 mm in less than 6 hours, he confides. It is considerable. In urban areas, these accumulations of rain will generate strong runoff, and perhaps even significant flooding of secondary watercourses. »
According to Loïc Spadafora, the most affected areas in Hérault will be “the east of the Thau basin, the Hérault valley, Montpellier, Lunellois, the Vidourle basin. This does not mean that it will not rain in Béziers. But that means that the risk of a strong or violent phenomenon is more present in the east of the Hérault than in the west”. In the Gard, it is the south of the department which will be the most impacted, in particular the Vidourle, the small Camargue, the Camargue, Nîmes or the Rhône Valley.
Early school pick-up in the Gard
The Hérault was placed by the prefecture in yellow vigilance for thunderstorms from 10 a.m. this Friday, and for rain and floods from 12 p.m. The Gard, already placed in yellow vigilance, will change to orange for thunderstorms from 3 p.m. The prefecture, in this last department, recommends not to circulate from 6 p.m.
In the Gard, the school bus will be anticipated, at 4 p.m. “Parents, whose children do not benefit from a school bus service, are invited to pick up their children”, at that time, indicates the prefecture. “If this is impossible, the children will remain present in the establishment until the arrival of their parents. »