Tempest Claudia Brings More Inundation to the Portuguese nation and the Spanish territory
The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of widespread inundation in the wake of Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and strong winds the previous week.
The Storm's Genesis and Journey
This meteorological event formed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier caused early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.
The system journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, trapped within a trough of an ever more meandering air current.
Consequences for the Iberian Peninsula
Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a sluggish front of rain drifted across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.
Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week caused inundations to areas in Portugal where a senior pair perished in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River invaded their residence as they were asleep.
Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a tornado ripping through a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday, killing an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 individuals.
Extended Consequences across Europe
This system triggered wider effects across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system assisted in raising temperatures in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the state's maximum ever November temperature.
By Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across the northern regions of the continent, generating a precipitation zone stretching from western Ireland to Russia.
In the Britain, this halting system of rain delivered very high rainfall totals, leading to major inundations in Wales.
As this weather phenomenon 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, USA
The Golden State encountered a so-called atmospheric river the previous week, causing intense precipitation and powerful winds that provoked rapid flooding and landslides in areas affected by wildfires earlier this year.
More than 50mm of rain was recorded in California's southern part on last Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday.
More than 100mm of rain accumulated over coastal parts of Southern CA in all, hitting eight inches in total in locations at higher elevations.
This meteorological feature is a plume of hot, humid air stemming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.
Locations with fire damage including Pacific Palisades and Altadena region experienced the worst of the flash flooding and mudslides, leading to evacuations.
In other parts of the state, a man in his seventies died after his automobile was swept off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her father were dragged into the ocean by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.
