Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence, located from the centre of Valence, recorded an average temperature of 12.3 °C and of precipitation over the period from 1966 to 2004. The annual sunshine in Valence is 2,500 hours/year (average 1970–1994). However, there are large variations from one year to another, depending on the dominant influence (in turn Mediterranean and semi-continental). During the period from 1994 to 2004, the following years were remarkable: Lack of sunshine in 1996 (1,712 hours), low precipitation () and high temperatures in 1997, significant rainfall in 1999 () and in 2002 (). There was significant sunshine (approx. 2,500 hours) from 1999 to 2002, accompanied by higher than average temperatures. Frost in April 2003 which affected peach production, followed by a summer heatwave in 2003, with exceptional sunshine for the year (2,781 hours), and a rainfall deficit in 2004 (). Valence is located in the Rhône Valley where the wind regime is regular, both from the south (mistral) and north. Adding in the course of the Rhône which is linear from Lyon to Valence, this circumstance has allowed navigable sailing on the Rhône from Valence. Vegetation The vegetation in the plain of Valence is mid-European with a supra-Mediterranean floor (pedunculate oak, oak found in the coldest places, and thickets of hornbeam) mingled with thermophilic species such as downy oak, or even evergreen oaks on exposed slopes with draining soils. Found also in the south of the Drôme Valley where the Mediterranean influence finally prevails ( to the South) are spontaneous populations of thyme, lavender, Euphorbia characias, Spanish broom (Genista hispanica), cane of Provence (Arundo donax), as well as Aleppo pines on the western face of the massif of Crussol. Due to the exposure and the nature of the soil, the Ardèche hills offer landscapes of garrigue and Mediterranean Oak (Quercus Ilex) from Tournon which is located north of Valence (hills of Cornas, Château de Crussol and Soyons). The hills (mostly limestone) have a double vegetation: Mediterranean on the southern side and Sub-continental on the northern side. Formerly, the cultivation of olive trees was previously on the well-exposed heights of Tain-l'Hermitage ( to the north), but they were replaced by the culture of the vine at first, and then by that of apricot, peach and other fruits which are still very present in the region, even though more than of fruits (mainly apricots, cherries, peaches and kiwis) disappeared from the Drôme landscapes due to