• Nice, and more broadly the Alpes-Maritimes, record new weather-related records almost every month.

  • Last weekend, 85 mm fell in three hours in Nice, which had not happened since 2015.

  • Can this rain compensate for the drought?

    Can it, by being intense, create catastrophic phenomena?

    20 Minutes

    interviewed specialists.

“Since January, we have been dealing with a succession of exceptional things”, sums up Cécile Guyon in one sentence.

The head of the Services, forecasting and climatology division of the south-east region at Météo-France talks about the latest “record” to date.

“It rained 85 mm, in the space of three hours, in the night from Saturday to Sunday.

What had not happened since October 3, 2015, when 111 mm had fallen.

But what was special about last weekend's episode was that it was focused on Nice.

Inland, we found between 8 and 20 mm.

»

This rain, although intense, was not sufficient to compensate for the significant rainfall deficit observed in the department for several months.

“Whatever falls now, it trickles.

The best for the situation would be regular rain and not stormy rain, says the specialist.

Compared to normal, there is a strong anomaly for soil humidification, the deficit is very high.

Even if we start again on a new groundwater recharge season, we are still far from the objectives.

Knowing that the previous [season] was catastrophic.

»

In January, there was not a drop of rain, then the first months of 2022 followed one another as the hottest and/or driest in years.

The evolution of waterways scrupulously observed

It was also due to a lack of "exchanges between the groundwater and the river" that the Lac du Broc found itself dry in early October, explains Anne-Laure Thaon, hydrologist engineer and head of the water resource center at the Syndicat mixte. for flooding, development and water management (Smiage) maralpin.

This union was created with the aim of "facilitating the prevention and protection against flooding and promoting the balanced and sustainable management of water and aquatic environments", after the deadly floods of October 2015 in the department.

With the drought, accentuated by the high temperatures which cause the evaporation of the soil, but also other local factors combined, "there can be terrible consequences" on the territory.

Aurélien Chartier, director of the Risk Forecasting and Water Management division of this union, explains: "We are in a situation of severe low water levels, that is to say, the lowest water level, but we are following very close to the evolution, in particular thanks to our station of measurements of the rivers.

The union also provides municipalities with crisis management assistance, in addition to a tool that allows the population to be alerted”.

He also cites the creation, by the department, in September, of a Water Observatory to “find solutions, better share data and unite actions”.

“Small floods” to solve the problem?

For these professionals, "all the small cumulative rains will make it possible to attenuate the drought situation even if it is very limited", but it is possible "to catch up in a few months", through "small floods", these deficits without there are destructive “intense phenomena”.



To see if their observations will make it possible to lift the restrictions linked to the drought taken by the prefecture and which are maintained until Saturday.

The forecasts, which announced rain in Nice at the beginning of the week, are "in change of regime", according to Météo-France and there should ultimately be no precipitation.

For Aurélien Chartier, Anne-Laure Thaon and Cécile Guyon, it is important to respect the rules of state services.

“In an exceptional situation, exceptional measures, concludes the head of the Southeast region Services division.

We are still off to a more or less dry month, but we still have twenty days to get the normal level of rain.

Let's hope that a new record is not yet to be raised.

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