Lac d'Aiguebelette
The Lac d'Aiguebelette (French pronunciation: [lak dɛɡbəlɛt]; Lake of Aiguebelette) is a natural lake north of the Chartreuse Mountains in the French Alps and just west of the Chaîne de l'Épine in the Jura Mountains. It is located within five communes in the Savoie department: Aiguebelette-le-Lac, Lépin-le-Lac, Saint-Alban-de-Montbel, Novalaise and Nances.
The lake hosted the 1997 and 2015 World Rowing Championships.[1][2]
Geography
Situation
With a surface area of 5.45 km2 (2.10 sq mi) it is one of the largest natural lakes of France.[3][4] It is the fourth-largest natural lake in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, after Lake Geneva (although partly in Switzerland), Lake Annecy and the Lac du Bourget. It has a maximum depth of 71 metres (233 ft). It is part of the Avant-Pays savoyard, formerly known as the Petit-Bugey.
It is noted for its blue-green colour and seven hot water springs. The communities of Aiguebelette-le-Lac, Lépin-le-Lac, Saint-Alban-de-Montbel, Novalaise and Nances border the lake, while the Chaîne de l'Épine ridge lies to the east with its high point at Mont Grêle (1,425 metres or 4,675 ft), south-southeast of the lake.
At the southern end there are two islands, La Petite Île and La Grande Île, the latter of which has a chapel, the Chapelle Saint-Vincent, administratively part of the commune of Lépin-le-Lac.
Transport
The lake is served by the railway line from Saint-André-le-Gaz to Chambéry; the section between Lépin-le-Lac-La Bauche station (southwest) and Aiguebelette-le-Lac station (southeast) offers panoramic views on the lake.
The A43 autoroute is north of the lake.
Climate
Lake Aiguebelette has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) closely bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). The average annual temperature in Lake Aiguebelette is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,306.8 mm (51.45 in) with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 21.2 °C (70.2 °F), and lowest in January, at around 2.7 °C (36.9 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Lake Aiguebelette was 36.9 °C (98.4 °F) on 24 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −14.3 °C (6.3 °F) on 20 December 2009.
Climate data for Lac d'Aiguebelette (1991−2020 normals, extremes 2004−2021) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) | 20.2 (68.4) | 24.3 (75.7) | 28.5 (83.3) | 32.3 (90.1) | 35.9 (96.6) | 36.9 (98.4) | 36.2 (97.2) | 31.8 (89.2) | 27.0 (80.6) | 24.1 (75.4) | 19.6 (67.3) | 36.9 (98.4) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.9 (42.6) | 7.6 (45.7) | 12.3 (54.1) | 17.3 (63.1) | 20.4 (68.7) | 24.9 (76.8) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.3 (79.3) | 22.3 (72.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 10.8 (51.4) | 6.4 (43.5) | 16.6 (61.9) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) | 3.5 (38.3) | 7.3 (45.1) | 11.6 (52.9) | 15.0 (59.0) | 19.1 (66.4) | 21.2 (70.2) | 20.4 (68.7) | 17.0 (62.6) | 12.8 (55.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 3.3 (37.9) | 11.8 (53.2) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) | −0.6 (30.9) | 2.2 (36.0) | 5.8 (42.4) | 9.5 (49.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 15.0 (59.0) | 14.5 (58.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 8.4 (47.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | 0.1 (32.2) | 6.9 (44.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −9.3 (15.3) | −13.6 (7.5) | −13.0 (8.6) | −2.9 (26.8) | 0.4 (32.7) | 3.0 (37.4) | 8.2 (46.8) | 7.8 (46.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | −1.6 (29.1) | −8.4 (16.9) | −14.3 (6.3) | −14.3 (6.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 107.6 (4.24) | 88.5 (3.48) | 110.2 (4.34) | 94.6 (3.72) | 141.6 (5.57) | 110.2 (4.34) | 105.2 (4.14) | 112.1 (4.41) | 89.3 (3.52) | 109.1 (4.30) | 111.4 (4.39) | 127.0 (5.00) | 1,306.8 (51.45) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 11.3 | 9.3 | 12.1 | 9.4 | 12.5 | 9.8 | 8.3 | 9.3 | 7.6 | 9.7 | 10.3 | 12.6 | 122.1 |
Source: Météo-France[5] |
Recreation
The Chaîne de l'Épine ridge is crossed by hiking trails; paragliders launch from there during the summer.
Motorboats are not allowed on the lake to preserve the silence and wildlife along the lake. There are noted views of the lake from the church at Saint-Alban-de-Montbel and the mountain ridges.
References
- ^ "Rowing History - 1997World Championships". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ^ WorldRowing, News. FISA announces selection for the 2015 world rowing championships
- ^ (in French) Lac d'Aiguebelette, Communauté de communes du Lac d'Aiguebelette.
- ^ (in French) Eaux vives et grands lacs, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourisme.
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
External links
- Lac d'Aiguebelette on www.savoie-mont-blanc.com
- v
- t
- e
- Lucerne 1962
- Bled 1966
- St. Catharines 1970
- Lucerne 1974
- Nottingham 1975
- Villach 1976
- Amsterdam 1977
- Copenhagen 1978 (lightweight)
- Cambridge 1978
- Bled 1979
- Heindonk 1980
- Oberschleißheim 1981
- Lucerne 1982
- Duisburg 1983
- Montreal 1984
- Heindonk 1985
- Nottingham 1986
- Copenhagen 1987
- Milan 1988
- Bled 1989
- Tasmania 1990
- Vienna 1991
- Montreal 1992
- Račice 1993
- Indianapolis 1994
- Tampere 1995
- Motherwell 1996
- Aiguebelette-le-Lac 1997
- Cologne 1998
- St. Catharines 1999
- Zagreb 2000
- Lucerne 2001
- Seville 2002
- Milan 2003
- Banyoles 2004
- Kaizu 2005
- Dorney 2006
- Oberschleißheim 2007
- Ottensheim 2008
- Poznań 2009
- Cambridge 2010
- Bled 2011
- Plovdiv 2012
- Chungju 2013
- Amsterdam 2014
- Aiguebelette-le-Lac 2015
- Rotterdam 2016
- Sarasota 2017
- Plovdiv 2018
- Ottensheim 2019
Bled 2020Shanghai 2021- Račice 2022
- Belgrade 2023
- St. Catharines 2024
- Shanghai 2025
- Amsterdam 2026
- Rotsee (1962)
- Lake Bled (1966)
- Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course (1970)
- Rotsee (1974)
- Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre (1975)
- Lake Ossiach (1976)
- Bosbaan (1977)
- Lake Bagsværd (1978 lightweight)
- Lake Karapiro (1978)
- Lake Bled (1979)
- Hazewinkel (1980)
- Oberschleißheim Regatta Course (1981)
- Rotsee (1982)
- Wedau (1983)
- Notre Dame Island (1984)
- Hazewinkel (1985)
- Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre (1986)
- Lake Bagsværd (1987)
- Idroscalo (1988)
- Lake Bled (1989)
- Lake Barrington (1990)
- New Danube (1991)
- Notre Dame Island (1992)
- Račice (1993)
- Eagle Creek Park (1994)
- Kaukajärvi (1995)
- Strathclyde Country Park (1996)
- Lac d'Aiguebelette (1997)
- Fühlinger See (1998)
- Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course (1999)
- Jarun (2000)
- Rotsee (2001)
- Guadalquivir (2002)
- Idroscalo (2003)
- Lake of Banyoles (2004)
- Nagaragawa International Regatta Course (2005)
- Dorney Lake (2006)
- Oberschleißheim Regatta Course (2007)
- Ottensheim (2008)
- Lake Malta (2009)
- Lake Karapiro (2010)
- Lake Bled (2011)
- Plovdiv (2012)
- Tangeum Lake (2013)
- Bosbaan (2014)
- Lac d'Aiguebelette (2015)
- Willem-Alexander Baan (2016)
- Nathan Benderson Park (2017)
- Plovdiv (2018)
- Ottensheim (2019)
Lake Bled (2020)Dianshan Lake (2021)- Račice (2022)
- Lake Sava (2023)
- Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course (2024)
- Dianshan Lake (2025)
- Bosbaan (2026)