Météo France placed Saint-Pierre and Miquelon on red alert for black ice on Thursday, the first time in history that this level of alert has been reached on the French archipelago in the North Atlantic.
In a press release, the prefecture of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon indicates that
“Météo France has issued a Red vigilance bulletin for ice with an Orange vigilance for Snow”
, from 6:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. in Paris) and for the entire day of Friday.
“Over the period, an accumulation of black ice which could exceed 2 cm on the ground is expected, followed by 30 to 40 cm of snow
,” specifies the prefecture, adding that these snowfalls will be accompanied by gusts exceeding 90 km/h.
The decision for this vigilance is justified by
“the expected thickness of ice and the duration of the phenomenon”
, freezing rain being expected for almost twelve hours, according to the same source.