Just for you, Will
http://www.btinternet.com/~wokingham...1543-d-med.JPG

Sounds like some real weather, and a very frightening experience. Glad you
all got out of it to tell the tale.

Best wishes, and belated birthday greetings
--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.


Satellite images at:
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html
"Will" wrote in message
...

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This posting expresses the personal view and opinions of the author.
Something which everyone on this planet should be able to do.
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Hi, just got back yesterday from a fantastic holiday in the Pyrenees. We
have
never been there before so spent time walking in the popular Gavarnie area
of
France and the Ordessa valley in Spain. We camped circa 800m most of the
time
where the temperature was in the range 25-30 deg C max. making it ideal
for
outside swimming in the pool. The weather was dry most of the time with
variable
cloud and a few clear sunny days. One day we had the joy of climbing
through the
inversion up Pic Picos seeing the mountains sitting above a layer of Sc
was
terrific. There was some snow above 2500m on the French side where the
rivers
were flowing nicely, much less on the Spanish side where some rivers were
bone
dry. Had great fun slithering down the snow field/glacier at the Breche de
Roland, again my deepest snow seen this year.

The most notable weather events were 3 thunderstorms. The first was on our
first
night there at Sazos near St Sauvier on the 15th July. It started late
evening
with very gusty winds blowing down a marque on top of a car and very
little
rain. Just when we thought it had gone quiet the storm started quickly
around
0030 local with loud thunder and bright lightning and short bursts of
heavy
rain. It lasted about an hour and that was it. We saw the Tour de France
pass by
on the 21st in ideal cycling conditions (rather cloudy and relatively
cool)
before setting off for Turla in Spain to explore the magical Ordessa
canyons.

On our last night in Turla we were treated to a terrific storm with
frequent
loud thunder and very heavy rain, unfortunately wetting our tents. But the
main
event was on my birthday the 23rd July.

That day we chose to walk the length of the Ordessa valley. We set off in
hot
sunshine but with cumulus clouds building. We reached the top of the
valley
circa 1300 GMT with large cumulus growing. This was not unusual in the
Pyrenees
as it happened on a lot of days, but this day the clouds looked sharper in
outline and I had a hunch we could get thunder. Still we had wet weather
gear
and thought nothing of it. We walked round the top of the valley ignoring
please
from my younger daughter to tackle a higher route with handrails as time
was
getting on and we still had a long way back. We decided to take the higher
and
steeper route on the south side that would give us magnificent views of
the
Breche de Roland as we perched on the side of the canyon wall with steep
cliffs
going up and down. At 1530 local (1330 GMT) we passed a permanent sign
saying
"Danger do not commence after 3PM" . What was the reason for that ? All I
could
think of was that the path would be dangerous and slippery in wet weather
or in
darkness. I looked at the clouds, one thunderhead was going up to the
north of
us over the high 3000m peaks, the rest wasn't doing much. We decided to
carry
on. There were other walkers coming the other way too. At 1400 GMT we
heard the
first rumble of thunder from a big cell going up to the south and east. An
hour
later when we were perched up at around 2200m it started to rain with big
drops
but soon stopped. By this time thunder was becoming more frequent to our
south
and clouds were building all around. I was getting concerned. We were
alone and
the path was well defined but had to cross deep gullies with vertical
drops
where water tumbled 600m or so the the valley floor with loose rock and
steep
cliffs above. The rain stopped. We pressed on. By 1600 GMT we had reached
the
point of our descent of circa 600m down a steep rocky path with near
vertical
drops in places should we fall. Thunder was rolling again to the south and
the
cloud was coming down over the Breche, a quick look from a viewpoint and a
drink
and cake and we began our descent. It started to rain and some people who
had
come up the other way were sheltering in a hut. We carried on wanting to
get
down as quick as we can as clouds were getting darker and a cell was going
up
overhead. At 1630 GMT lightning very close and loud thunder and very heavy
rain,
we pushed on. By this time we were in tree cover and the path was still
dry but
soon it started to hail with frequent lightning. Very soon the hail got
very
heavy and it started to hurt as it hit. Visibility rocketed down and all
the
stones were over 1cm diameter. I saw some stones 2 cm across and my son
saw one
3 cm across. We were being battered and it hurt when the big stones hit,
despite
tree cover. The ground by this time was white with hail and becoming very
slippery indeed with still steep drops. I was becoming very concerned that
this
was rapidly becoming dangerous for all of us. There was no safe place to
stop we
had to push on. The hail got heavier and soon the path turned into a
torrent of
water making it less slippery but mud and stones were being dislodged and
for
the first time I got scared. If this carried on we could be swept down the
hillside in a torrent of water which could dislodge trees as well.
Thankfully
the intensity eased after what seemed like ages but was probably a couple
of
minutes and we carried on walking down what was now a stream.

We made it to the bottom and safety and looked up. On the open path what
were
dry gorges were now water cascades and I said that if we had still been up
there
in the open we would be in terrific danger. At the car park another marque
had
been ripped to shreds by the hail. We got the bus back soaked to the skin,
despite waterproofs, exhilirated but also thankful.

What a day, the storm eased quickly as we were on the bus and I said to
myself I
was right to be concerned and indeed we all learned (or re-learned the
awesome
power of nature). It was worth it, seeing the canyon walls on the other
side
from 2000m was awesome.

Looking at the charts yesterday there was a ridge of high pressure at the
surface but there was a 500mb trough to the west and it was obviously this
that
helped to release such deep instability to give 3 cm hail of such an
intensity
to give almost zero visibility.

Back to normal cheers,

Will.
--

" Visit www.meteo.fr for your holiday weather in France "
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