Tempest Claudia Brings Additional Inundation to the Portuguese nation and the Spanish territory
Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of significant inundation following Tempest Claudia brought torrential downpours and strong winds the previous week.
The Storm's Origin and Path
The storm system originated from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand ushered in early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through eastern parts of Canada and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.
The system moved eastward across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, caught in the trough of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.
Effects in the Iberian Peninsula
Galicia in north-west Spain was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain falling along its Atlantic coast in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain pushed across western parts of the peninsula.
More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where an older couple died in Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus invaded their residence as they were asleep.
Tempestuous weather lasted through the weekend, with a twister devastating a campsite and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an British woman aged 85 and harming 28 people.
Broader Impacts across the European continent
The storm produced wider effects across Europe's western part. By drawing warm 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 autumn temperature.
By the following Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body collided with a cold air mass across the northern areas of the continent, generating a precipitation zone extending from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.
In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, resulting in major inundations in Wales.
As Claudia loses strength in the coming days, the cold air mass will push south, providing the continent its premier experience of winter.
Parallel Events in California, USA
The Golden State encountered a so-called atmospheric river recently, causing torrential rain and powerful winds that resulted in sudden inundations and mudslides in areas impacted by forest fires earlier this year.
More than 50mm of rain fell in the southern region of the state on last Friday, with a further 50mm widely across the state on Saturday.
In excess of 100 millimetres of rain was deposited on coastal parts of southern California in total, reaching eight inches in total in areas of elevated terrain.
This meteorological feature is a plume of tropical, saturated air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.
Locations with fire damage including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena endured the worst of the flash flooding and earth movements, leading to evacuations.
In other parts of the state, a man in his seventies passed away after his vehicle was washed off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her parent were pulled into the Pacific by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.
