More die as France hit by storms

[hunter]

The national weather service, Meteo France, has issued a high-level alert for 12 administrative departments in the region.

The service expects the incessant rains and winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) could continue until Thursday."

Officials are anxiously watching the situation in the Rhone Valley amid fears of further flooding.

The country is also battling a flu outbreak. Officials said two million cases were expected by the end of the week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3287357.stm

Is this unusual weather or not? This sort of story always makes me wonder about global warming, etc.

[burrowowl]

1. It is strange weather

for France, which is generally very temperate.
Winds in Brittany, yes but around Marsailles, very rare.
The Gulf Stream must be very perturbed.

[Paschall]

2. Northern winds from across the Mediterranean are common

...in Marseille at this time of year. And strong winds in Marseilles and southern France from across the Mediterranean are not particularly unusual in any season. In fact they have a name: mistral. These storms are typical, perhaps a bit worse this year than most, but meteorlogists are saying there's not enough data to attribute them to global warming.

(Uh, and the Gulf Stream doesn't come anywhere near Marseilles.)

[hunter]

3. Thank You.

You gave me enough to start looking it up on my own...

:)

[NNadir]

4. The IPCC, an international organization of meterologists issued an

unprecedented warning earlier this year that weather extremes are indeed rising rapidly. Unfortunately, it was ignored. There's Michael Jackson and other important issues to discuss like that guy who killed his pregnant wife on the fishing trip.