Tempest Claudia Brings Additional Inundation to the Portuguese nation and the Spanish territory
Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from significant flooding in the wake of Tempest Claudia brought torrential downpours and powerful gusts the previous week.
Claudia's Genesis and Journey
This weather system formed from an area of low pressure that had previously ushered in unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.
This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering jet stream.
Effects in the Iberian Peninsula
Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with three to six inches of rain coming down along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain crawled across western parts of the peninsula.
More downpours and stormy weather on the following Thursday brought flooding to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple lost their lives in Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they slept.
Stormy conditions continued into the weekend, with a twister ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and harming 28 individuals.
Extended Consequences across Europe
The storm produced wider effects across Europe's western part. By siphoning heated air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high November temperature.
By Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a frigid air system across the northern areas of the continent, creating a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.
In the Britain, this halting system of rain produced exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to significant waterlogging in the principality of Wales.
As Claudia continues to weaken in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will advance southward, providing the continent its first taste of colder weather.
Parallel Events in California
The US state of California experienced an "atmospheric river" recently, causing heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked rapid flooding and debris flows in regions affected by forest fires in the recent past.
Over two inches of rain poured down in southern California on Friday, with a additional two inches widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.
More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal areas of the state's south in all, reaching 200mm overall in spots on high ground.
An atmospheric river is a plume of hot, humid air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.
Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena region suffered the most severe the flash flooding and earth movements, prompting evacuations.
Across California, a elderly male died after his car was swept off a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the California's Central Coast.
