A summer atmosphere in the middle of November. On Tuesday, the thermometers went up in a rather unusual way in Cannes, where Météo-France recorded a temperature of 27.7°C. An unprecedented heat at this time of year. The previous record, 25.8°C recorded on November 4, 2004, was “pulverized”, revealed meteorologist François Jobard on the social network
But then how can we explain this episode of “remarkable late heat near the Mediterranean”, which also affected the Var department and Corsica? Should we expect to regularly break new records? 20 minutes make the point.
Two concomitant phenomena
On the Croisette, the contrast will have been striking. The 27.7°C recorded on Tuesday almost doubled the temperature recorded five days earlier. On November 9, the mercury had (only) reached 14°C. Such a difference is explained by “two concomitant phenomena”, indicates to 20 minutes Adèle Luy, consulting forecaster at the Météo-France Sud-Est center. “The region was under an air mass coming from Spain that was already quite warm,” she explains. And it was further warmed by a westerly wind, which generated a powerful foehn effect. »
This phenomenon, which occurs when atmospheric circulation encounters a mountain range, is widely expressed above the Estérel massif. The east of the Var, but also the first communes of the Alpes-Maritimes, Théoule-sur-Mer, Mandelieu-la-Napoule and Cannes, in particular, were hit hard. Including during the night, where Météo-France still recorded 18.9°C in Antibes and 18.7°C in Mandelieu-la-Napoule at 4 a.m. The area had also been placed on yellow alert for violent winds until Wednesday morning.
“Records will be broken more and more regularly”
However, these episodes of heat, even in autumn, are not unusual. “This is not new,” says Adèle Luy. But it is this temperature record that is striking. At the end of Tuesday afternoon, Cannes thermometers still showed around 25°C. “We are still talking about an increase of two degrees compared to the previous record” recorded in 2004 and unmatched since 1949, the year of the very first Météo-France readings in Cannes, she says. Going back to Pégomas, in the middle of Cannes, it was even 28.2°C on Tuesday (+3.4°C compared to the previous year), according to data from installations which do not depend on the public establishment.
Something to surprise. And yet, you’ll have to get used to it. “With climate change, these records will tend to multiply,” says the specialist. The precedents will be beaten more and more regularly. »