The essentials
Solenzara recorded 538 mm in six hours, and Gard and Hérault received about two months of rain from the storm.
A Mediterranean storm episode that began on 19 October in Hérault and Gard produced rainfall totals that stand out in the recorded record. At Solenzara, 538 mm of rain fell in six hours, a value described as unprecedented in mainland France and Corsica.
Storm rainfall in Gard and Hérault equalled about two months of precipitation, according to the figures reported. The comparison reflects how much rain fell over a short period, not a single measure of total seasonal volume.
Separately, flood waters reached levels described as unprecedented in communes of western Bouches-du-Rhône. These measurements follow earlier figures for the event, including nearly 500 mm recorded at Ghisonaccia in Haute-Corse. The available information does not detail the station records or the historical period against which these levels were judged unprecedented.
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Rainfall figures quantify the storm's exceptional concentration of water
The reported totals focus on intensity and volume. Solenzara's 538 mm within six hours indicates how quickly water accumulated, while the two-month equivalent in Gard and Hérault shows the scale of rain delivered over a single episode. Flood levels in western Bouches-du-Rhône are presented as a separate measure of the same weather system's effects on local rivers and communes.
Unprecedented benchmarks frame the storm against past national records
Describing the rainfall and flood levels as unprecedented places the event against earlier observations, though the material does not list the prior records. The Solenzara figure is framed against mainland France and Corsica, while the flood levels are framed against local history in western Bouches-du-Rhône. Comparisons depend on the length of the observation periods used for each benchmark.