Editing Provence (section)

=== Alpes-Maritimes ===
[[Nice]] and the [[Alpes-Maritimes]] department are sheltered by the Alps, and are the most protected part of the Mediterranean coast. The winds in this department are usually gentle, blowing from the sea to the land, though sometimes the mistral blows strongly from the northwest, or, turned by the mountains, from the east. In 1956, a mistral wind from the northwest reached the speed of 180 kilometres an hour at Nice airport. Sometimes in summer the [[sirocco]] brings high temperatures and reddish desert sand from Africa (see [[Winds of Provence]]).

Rainfall is infrequent, 63 days a year, but can be torrential, particularly in September, when storms and rain are caused by the difference between the colder air inland and the warm Mediterranean water temperature (20–24 degrees&nbsp;C.). The average annual rainfall in Nice is 767&nbsp;mm, more than in Paris, but concentrated in fewer days.

Snow is extremely rare, usually falling once every ten years. 1956 was a very exceptional year, when 20 centimetres of snow blanketed the coast. In January 1985 the coast between Cannes and Menton received 30 to 40 centimetres of snow. In the mountains, the snow is present from November to May.

Nice has an annual average of 2694 hours of sunshine. The average maximum daily temperature in Nice in August is 28&nbsp;°C., and the average minimum daily temperature in January is 6&nbsp;°C.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} {{cite web|url=http://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie/index.php?s=07690&aff=details |title=Infoclimat – Météo en temps réel – observations previsions climatologie forum |language=fr |publisher=Infoclimat.fr |access-date=18 August 2010}}</ref>