She could very well have written “Go home!” “. More polite, the Police Prefecture preferred to gently encourage Ile-de-France residents to “join [leur] home before 7 p.m.” via a message posted on the X network (formerly Twitter). An injunction intended in particular for motorists due to “a probable snowy episode is announced during the night of Wednesday January 17 to Thursday January 18”.
If snow were not such an ordeal for Ile-de-France motorists (and we are not even talking about homeless people), we would come to expect it. Paris is beautiful when she is dressed in a white coat, like the sugar icing on a cake that we admire before tasting it. Eager to hear the crunch of the powder under our feet, we look at it immaculately before setting foot on it.
First the freezing rains
This is all very well, but this Tuesday evening, many people were already waiting for snow in the capital. A night watching for snowflakes… only to wake up to frozen rain and not a bit of white on the Parisian trees, sidewalks and roofs.
Have we been lied to? Wouldn’t it ultimately be so urgent to return home? Wait a minute. First of all, if snowfall is indeed mentioned in the press release from the Paris Police headquarters, it mainly concerns this night from Wednesday to Thursday. For yesterday evening, the prefecture warned more about freezing rain. “The snow is coming,” François Gourand, forecaster at Météo-France, tells us. Île-de-France and then Paris. »
No need to take out the carrots to make figures anyway. “We should see further freezing rain this evening. The snow won’t come until much later in the night. ” If the Météo-France website announces a few snowflakes over the capital around 10 p.m., François Gourand takes care of showering the most euphoric: “We may see some fluttering but nothing that will last. In Paris, you will have to wait until after midnight, and probably even later. » The forecaster advances the start of snowfall to 3 a.m. and it should only last until 6 a.m., “7 hours at best”.
One centimeter in Paris at most (and you’ll have to get up early)
“It’s difficult to predict the intensity of a fall. But according to our data, we should only have one centimeter in Paris. At best, and it shouldn’t hold up except in a few cold places like park lawns. » Nothing compares to what the lucky people of Val-d’Oise or Yvelines could experience with their 3 to 5 centimeters of snow on the ground. But better than the inhabitants of the south of Île-de-France who experienced a mild spell this Wednesday and should not see any snow tomorrow morning.
But late nights or early risers of Parisian nights will still be able to enjoy a nice spectacle: “The announced thickness is what people will see on the ground, and urban areas like Paris are warmer. But the flakes will still fall. » Thank you Mr. Gourand, we are reassured.