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A foot of snow in France!!!

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Old Apr 18th, 2005, 11:02 AM
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A foot of snow in France!!!

Heavy snow, rain hit S France, 44,000 homes without power

LYON, France, April 17 (AFP) - Heavy snowfall in the French Alps and other southeastern regions has left some 44,000 homes without power as rainstorms also caused rivers to burst their banks, French authorities said on Sunday.

In the Isere, Ardeche and Drome regions in the southeast the national power company EDF said it was working to restore power lines, damaged by falling trees and branches brought down by the snow.

EDF said it had 120 agents in the field but that work was complicated by the poor weather conditions.

Snowfall is not uncommon in the region in April, but the more than 40 centimetres (more than one foot) which have fallen since Saturday

surprised traffic police and weathermen alike.

Road traffic was seriously disrupted in the Ain region in the Jura mountain range, with a major highway shut down entirely, regional officials said.

Flood alerts were issued in the southeastern Rhone-Alpes region as well as in southern Auvergne and Bourgogne, where a total of more than 200 people had to be evacuated as several small rivers burst their banks, firefighters said.

In neighbouring Switzerland, train and road traffic were also disrupted by heavy snowfall, with the worst delays affecting train services in the Jura mountain range, the national rail operator said.




Heavy snow, rain hit S France, 44,000 homes without power

LYON, France, April 17 (AFP) - Heavy snowfall in the French Alps and other southeastern regions has left some 44,000 homes without power as rainstorms also caused rivers to burst their banks, French authorities said on Sunday.

In the Isere, Ardeche and Drome regions in the southeast the national power company EDF said it was working to restore power lines, damaged by falling trees and branches brought down by the snow.

EDF said it had 120 agents in the field but that work was complicated by the poor weather conditions.

Snowfall is not uncommon in the region in April, but the more than 40 centimetres (more than one foot) which have fallen since Saturday

surprised traffic police and weathermen alike.

Road traffic was seriously disrupted in the Ain region in the Jura mountain range, with a major highway shut down entirely, regional officials said.

Flood alerts were issued in the southeastern Rhone-Alpes region as well as in southern Auvergne and Bourgogne, where a total of more than 200 people had to be evacuated as several small rivers burst their banks, firefighters said.

In neighbouring Switzerland, train and road traffic were also disrupted by heavy snowfall, with the worst delays affecting train services in the Jura mountain range, the national rail operator said.



© AFP

Subject: French News



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cigalechanta is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 11:24 AM
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just to reassure those going to Côte d'Or, it was so windy 2 days ago that the clouds went further east, so no floods here.
and according to meteo forecast (said a few weeks ago) there should be drought for this summer....
cocofromdijon is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 11:27 AM
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I can sympathize... we got hit by 18 inches of snow last Sunday in Denver. It created a MESS!
Hopefully Lyon can dig out soon!!
TexasAggie is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 12:00 PM
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We have a ton of snow up in the mountains of Switzeland too - Close to 30 centimeters of fresh powder. Great time to hit the slopes if I may say so.
elmothehobo is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 12:18 PM
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It's sunny and 76 here in Maryland. Fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. Cherry trees in full blossom.
RufusTFirefly is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 12:44 PM
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although the weather has been much nicer last week, I have tulips blooming in my garden and cherry trees in full blossom in the street as well! :->
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Old Apr 18th, 2005, 03:00 PM
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coco, it's true they predict a very dry summer and are preparing a plan to ration water.
Thank goodness for Badoit!
cigalechanta is offline  
Old Apr 18th, 2005, 03:06 PM
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This afternoon I talked with my sister that lives in Mejannes, a small village 30 km. from Uzes, she never mentioned that the weather was bad...Perhaps where she lives is not raining..
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Old Apr 18th, 2005, 04:06 PM
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HOUSTON, USA, April 18 (BFD) - Most of the heavy snowdrifts are gone . . temps plunged into the low 60's this week . .

Rich
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Old Apr 20th, 2005, 03:36 PM
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I was in Lyon the date of that report. All it was doing there was raining, raining, raining. Monday I took the train to Avignon (for its one day of sunshine) and saw snow most of the way. The tourists are complaining, of course, but the French are glad to finally have good rain after a very dry winter.
fbc34 is offline  
Old Apr 21st, 2005, 05:27 AM
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Hmm

We had the tail end of that weather : 17mm (less than 3/4 inch) of rain. I can see the snow on the hills behind me, but this year all the snow and rain seems to have missed us.

Since November we'd only had 8mm.

So 1 inch of rain in 6 months, and now we are going into our dry season lasting until September.

Difficult days for farmers with no irrigation ?

Peter
www.the-languedoc-page.com
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