Mont Aigoual

Mont Aigoual
East face of Mont Aigoual
Highest point
Elevation1,567 m (5,141 ft)
Prominence730 m (2,400 ft)
Coordinates44°07′22″N 3°34′30″E / 44.12278°N 3.57500°E / 44.12278; 3.57500
Geography
Map
Location France
Parent rangeMassif Central
The weather observatory

Mont Aigoual (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃ ɛɡwal]; Occitan: Mont Augal, elevation 1567m / 5141 ft) is the highest point of the Gard department, France. It is part of the Massif Central, and it is located within the Cévennes National Park. Its southern slopes are the source of the river Hérault flowing into the Mediterranean.

When the sky is clear, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees, and also the Alps and Mont Blanc in particular. The summit is accessible by car from a variety of converging surfaced approaches.

Geography and climate

This granite and schist outcrop is a major water catchment area in the Massif Central, being located where clouds from the cold Atlantic converge with warm Mediterranean air currents. The heavy rainfall has given the mountain its name: originally "Aiqualis" ('the watery one'). In an average year rainfall can measure up to 2,250 mm (89 in), making it the wettest place in France. Mont Aigoual forms part of the watershed between the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

The meteorological observatory, built in 1887 by the French Rivers Authority and Forestry Commission under the direction of Georges Fabre, is currently occupied by the French meteorological service (Météo France). It is the last remaining weather station in France which is still inhabited by meteorologists. An exhibition on weather forecasting is open to visitors in the summer months.

Severe weather conditions are sometimes recorded:

  • Maximum Temperature : 30.4 °C on August 23, 2023;[1]
  • Minimum Temperature : -28 °C in 1956;
  • Maximum wind speed : 360 km/h on November 1, 1968;
  • Maximum rain in 24 hours: 607 mm from 6 p.m. on 30th to 6 p.m. on October 31, 1963;
  • Maximum snow during one year : 10.24 metres;
  • Frozen days: 144;
  • High temperature days (> 25 °C) : 0;
  • Rain days: 170;
  • High wind days (> 16 m/s) : 265;
  • Fog days: 241;
  • Days with snow: 116.

Mont Aigoual features a cool-summer variant of an oceanic climate (Cfc), bordering to a subpolar (Dfc) (highland) climate.

Town Sunshine

(hours/yr) 		Rain

(mm/yr)		 Snow

(days/yr)		 Storm

(days/yr)		 Fog

(days/yr)
National average 1,973 770 14 22 40
Mont Aigoual N/A 1,931.7 62.3 22.7 241.0
Paris 1,661 637 12 18 10
Nice 2,724 767 1 29 1
Strasbourg 1,693 665 29 29 56
Brest 1,605 1,211 7 12 75


Climate data for Mont Aigoual, France (altitude 1567m, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1896–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.6
(60.1) 		15.0
(59.0) 		16.5
(61.7) 		20.5
(68.9) 		25.0
(77.0) 		29.9
(85.8) 		28.2
(82.8) 		30.4
(86.7) 		27.2
(81.0) 		21.3
(70.3) 		18.6
(65.5) 		16.7
(62.1) 		30.4
(86.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 1.2
(34.2) 		1.0
(33.8) 		3.6
(38.5) 		6.2
(43.2) 		10.3
(50.5) 		14.7
(58.5) 		17.6
(63.7) 		17.6
(63.7) 		13.0
(55.4) 		9.0
(48.2) 		4.4
(39.9) 		2.4
(36.3) 		8.4
(47.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.0
(30.2) 		−1.4
(29.5) 		1.1
(34.0) 		3.4
(38.1) 		7.4
(45.3) 		11.5
(52.7) 		14.1
(57.4) 		14.3
(57.7) 		10.2
(50.4) 		6.7
(44.1) 		2.2
(36.0) 		0.1
(32.2) 		5.7
(42.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −3.2
(26.2) 		−3.8
(25.2) 		−1.5
(29.3) 		0.7
(33.3) 		4.4
(39.9) 		8.3
(46.9) 		10.6
(51.1) 		10.9
(51.6) 		7.4
(45.3) 		4.3
(39.7) 		0.0
(32.0) 		−2.3
(27.9) 		3.0
(37.4)
Record low °C (°F) −23.1
(−9.6) 		−28.0
(−18.4) 		−19.7
(−3.5) 		−14.0
(6.8) 		−8.6
(16.5) 		−3.3
(26.1) 		−0.8
(30.6) 		−0.2
(31.6) 		−6.0
(21.2) 		−9.8
(14.4) 		−15.0
(5.0) 		−20.6
(−5.1) 		−28.0
(−18.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 176.4
(6.94) 		141.1
(5.56) 		136.9
(5.39) 		169.3
(6.67) 		157.5
(6.20) 		89.1
(3.51) 		57.0
(2.24) 		60.4
(2.38) 		184.0
(7.24) 		309.7
(12.19) 		297.4
(11.71) 		191.2
(7.53) 		1,970
(77.56)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 12.2 10.2 10.3 11.2 10.8 7.4 6.2 7.2 8.4 13.5 13.9 12.9 124.3
Average snowy days 12.2 11.6 11.4 9.1 3.9 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.6 6.8 10.2 68.7
Average relative humidity (%) 82 85 83 84 84 82 76 78 80 84 83 81 81.8
Source 1: Météo France[3][4][5]
Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)[6]

Tour de France

Mont Aigoual (1507 metres) was first used by the Tour de France in 1987 on Stage 17 from Millau to Avignon, when Italian rider Silvano Contini (Italy) of Del Tongo was first over the summit.[7]

The climb featured in the 2020 Tour de France on Stage 6 as a summit finish from Le Teil.[8] The winner was the Kazakh cyclist Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team.

The Rider by Tim Krabbé

The Tour of Mont Aigoual is the semi-fictional cycle race in the book The Rider by Tim Krabbé.

The race is recreated on the Rapha[9] and on the inrng[10] weblogs

References

  1. ^ "Meteociel - Observations Mont-Aigoual (30) - données météo de la station - Tableaux horaires en temps réel". www.meteociel.fr. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  2. ^ Paris, Nice, Strasbourg, Brest
  3. ^ "Données climatiques de la station de Mont Aigoual" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  4. ^ "Climat Languedoc-Roussillon" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "Climate of Mont Aigoual 1991-2020" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  6. ^ "Normes et records 1961-1990: Mont Aigoual (30) - altitude 1567m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  7. ^ Memoire du Cyclisme - Mont Aigoual
  8. ^ "Stage 6 Tour de France 2020". ASO. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. ^ Rapha weblog
  10. ^ inrng weblog
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