The late summer 2016 in Puéchabon will be remembered as exceptional for breaking two historical records in the data series of the experimental site. The most intense tree water stress ever measured at the site and the most intense rainfall event ever recorded happened both within one week. The predawn leaf water potential of Quercus ilex was -4.47 MPa on the 13th of September 2016, which breaks the two previous records (-4.26 MPa in September 1998 and -4.07 MPa in August 2006). Trees suffered from this extreme water stress and branches with drying leaves could be seen on some trees (see picture). This happened after a streak of three months with only 15.6 mm of precipitation and ended on the 14th of September with a record breaking rainfall event of 236.4 mm in 11 hours. The previous most intense storms recorded at the site since 1984 were 189 mm in one day in 2008 and 185 mm in one day in 2014. Climate change in the Mediterranean is forecasted to result in drier and hotter climate but also in more extreme events, how long will these new records hold ?
