The Cévennes are once again heavily rained. A Cevennes episode has been in progress since yesterday and until this evening in the region. This is a high concentration of rain over a limited area and for a short period. The qualification “Cévennes” is the local name for a broader phenomenon, the Mediterranean episode, likely to affect all areas surrounding the Mediterranean.
Météo France thus places five departments in the sector in yellow vigilance (level 2 of 4) due to precipitation. These are Ardèche, Lozère, Gard, Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône.
The meteorological organization warns that “these rains are regular and sustained in the Cévennes, where in places we expect 100 mm to 150 mm of rain in 24 hours”, or up to 150 liters per square meter. In a city like Nimes (Gard), such accumulations are equivalent to a month, or even a month and a half, of average precipitation at that time.
“It is important to monitor the Ardèche”
However, it is rather on the heights that the accumulations should be the most significant. At midday this Monday, the accumulations were already approaching 100 mm at Valleraugue (Gard), whose station is located at an altitude of 400 m but whose surrounding relief rises up to 1,500 m. As shown in this map of Weather skythe rainiest axis is concentrated between Gard and Ardèche.
The Weather Channel explains that these bad weather could “cause some hydrological reactions without a really aggravating nature”. “But it is important to monitor the Ardèche. »