Tempest Claudia Brings Additional Inundation to the Portuguese nation and the Spanish territory
Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from significant inundation in the wake of Tempest Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds over the past seven days.
The Storm's Formation and Trajectory
This meteorological event originated from an area of low pressure that had beforehand caused early season cold and snowy conditions through the eastern regions of Canada and the American north-east in early November.
The system moved eastward across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, trapped within a trough of an increasingly amplified atmospheric river.
Impact on Spain and Portugal
Galicia in north-west Spain was the first affected, with 80-150mm 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 the western areas of the peninsula.
Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple perished in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they rested.
Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a twister devastating a outdoor lodging area and a close-by inn in Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and wounding 28 individuals.
Wider Effects across Europe
This system triggered wider effects across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's highest recorded late autumn reading.
By Friday, this tropical air mass clashed with a cold air mass across the northern areas of Europe, forming a rainfall belt running from Ireland's west to Russia.
In the UK, this stationary front of rain produced exceptionally large precipitation amounts, resulting in significant waterlogging in Wales.
As Claudia loses strength at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, giving Europe its first taste of winter.
Related Incidents in California
The US state of California experienced a so-called atmospheric river recently, causing torrential rain and powerful winds that led to flash flooding and debris flows in areas impacted by blazes earlier this year.
More than 50mm of rain fell in California's southern part on last Friday, with a additional two inches across extensive areas of California on Saturday last.
More than 100mm of rain fell over shoreline regions of Southern CA in total, attaining 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.
This meteorological feature is a narrow band of warm, moist air stemming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.
Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena region experienced the worst of the sudden floods and mudslides, prompting evacuations.
Across California, a man in his seventies passed away after his automobile was swept off a flooded bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her parent were swept into the sea by big swells on the California's Central Coast.
