Nice Snow 11th February 2010

A very rare phenomenon in Nice: snow has fallen on the 11th of February 2010






This is so seldom seen here...



Is the Nice weather going to be nice?

A good question, indeed! Unfortunately, seasonal weather is not consistent from year to year, and even today's forecast for tomorrow often turns out to be wrong. There is nothing unusual about having lunch on the Cours Saleya, with a tee-shirt on, in February, for Carnival, but occasionally it does snow about once every ten years. The last time was the 11th of February 2010, so you should be OK until 2020!






Snow on the Promenade des Anglais



The Régina, the former (winter) residence of Queen Victoria has been covered by snow on the 11th of February 2010. It's located in Cimiez, an exclusive residential area in Nice

Nice enjoys over 3,000 hours of sunshine annually. With an average of only 4 rainy days a month throughout the year (London 12, Manchester 15!), a temperature that rarely goes above 90F in summer or below 40F in winter, it is an all-year destination as popular (and as lively) in winter as in summer.



Webcam view one day later (the 12th of February 2010)

The contrast with the snow the day before couldn't be bigger, that's where Nice's weather is famous for: sun, blue skies and an azure blue sea.

Overwintering in Nice: sun and ski

photo by J.Kelogapian

Since the scottish poet, author and doctor T.G. Smollet discovered Nice in 1765 to have a micro climate that is healing people, many aristocratic people from England and Russia came to Nice to overwinter. Queen Victoria built her own palace, the Excelsior Régina in Cimiez, a residential area in Nice where you can also find the Matisse Museum. Queen Victoria's last trip to Nice was in 1899, when she traveled under her pseudonym 'Lady Balmoral' on a special train, 56 km/h at day time and 40 km/h at night.

Nowadays travel circumstances have been ameliorated and Nice has the 2nd airport of France. As you can see on the pictures, the snow-capped Alps are very close to the sunny Mediterranean coast. A winter sun vacation could easiliy be combined with a ski vacation in the nearby mountain ski resorts. It's only 1.5 hours by car or public transport to the ski resort of Isola 2000. The costs of the ski bus includes a day ski pass and return bus journey. Isola 2000 is located in the Mercantour Park, which is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with numerous outdoor activities available.



GREOLIERES (60 kms from Nice; 1400 to 1800 m) LA COLMIANE (65 kms from Nice; 1500 to 1800 m) VALBERG (80 kms from Nice; 1616 to 2100 m; www.valberg.com) AURON (90 kms from Nice; 1600 to 2450 m; www.auron.com) ISOLA 2000 (90 kms from Nice; 2000 to 2900 m; www.isola2000.com)

Overwintering in Nice

Queen Victoria, King Gustav V of Sweden and many other famous people took advantage of Nice’s mild winter climate and stayed in Nice during winter time. Nice enjoys an exceptional microclimate that has made its renown for two centuries.

Open to the sea, the city is protected from the wind by the surrounding hills, to the West by the Esterel Massif and, to the Northwest by the barrier of the Mercantour Alps.
The climate is always mild in winter and never too hot in summer thanks to the sea breeze. It is not rare to have lunch outdoors on a terrace wearing no more than a T-shirt in February when the rest of France is shivering in the cold.

This picture comes from the Gazette de la Promenade, it is a newsletter about the Promenade des Anglais in French, English and Italian. It discusses the history of the Promenade, future investments on the Promenade and latest apartment's sales. You can download these newsletters here.