By , AccuWeather Meteorologist
Published Sep 5, 2023 1:16 PM EDT | Updated Sep 6, 2023 5:48 AM EDT
A widespread storm churning over the southeast Mediterranean waters has and will continue to unleash potentially historical rainfall amounts in Greece this week. Earlier this week, the storm was given the name Daniel due to the significant flooding that it threatens to bring to the region.
Intense rainfall is expected to drench the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea through late this week as Daniel circulates to the west of Greece. Due to the nature of the heavy rainfall in Greece, red warnings were issued by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, the Greek government weather agency, warning of "particularly intense" weather with heavy rain and storms across the region.
In the government's three-tier warning system, red warnings are the highest category of warning that can be issued for the country, specifically used for dangerous and severe weather phenomena.
The storm comes just days after a separate storm caused extreme flooding on the other end of the Mediterranean, across parts of Spain and Portugal, over the weekend.
How long will Greece endure impacts from Daniel?
"Heavy rain will continue in Greece into Thursday thanks to an Omega block keeping Storm Daniel nearby for a couple of additional days," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.
AccuWeather experts define an "Omega block" as a buckling pattern in the jet stream, which resembles the Greek letter “Omega,” hence the name. This setup tends to prevent the normal west-to-east movement of weather features and tends to lock in cooler, stormy conditions in some spots.
On Monday, a report from the European Severe Weather Database indicated that a waterspout swirled off the coast of Mantoúdi, a village located in the Euboea region of east-central Greece, as a result of the energy swirling from Daniel. Another funnel cloud was observed along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Bagnara Calabra located in southern Italy. Forecasters warn that additional waterspouts can occur along the coastlines over the upcoming days, particularly along the southern coasts.
A visible satellite image shows the storm rotating over the Mediterranean Sea Tuesday evening local time.
The local fire department in Volos, Greece, reported one fatality after a wall collapsed onto a man, according to a report by the Associated Press. Another man was reported missing in the area and was believed to have been swept away by the torrential floodwaters.
Not everyone heeded the warnings. Volos Mayor Achilles Beos was so frustrated that he took to the streets, shouting at drivers. According to Storyful, Beos stood in the floodwaters shouting, "Where are they going? It’s crazy what’s happening; we’ve said it a hundred times. We have been telling you since yesterday the rivers will break… go to your homes!"
On Tuesday, police departments ordered traffic bans for the hardest hit locations of Volos, Pelion and the island of Skiathos, all located in east-central Greece. Given the additional rainfall expected across the country, further traffic bans may be issued until the historic storm subsides.
On Tuesday, the Greek village of Portaria reported 23.65 inches (600.6 mm) of rainfall since the start of the day, with rain still ongoing across the area. Other nearby locations across the Volos and Agia provinces along the east-central coast of Greece recorded amounts of 7.64 inches (194 mm).
The ZEUS Long-Range Lightning Detection System operated by the National Observatory of Athens registered over 30,000 lightning strikes across Greece by the evening hours on Tuesday, local time, with potent thunderstorms still rumbling over the area. From Sunday afternoon to Tuesday evening, over 220,000 lightning events were recorded across the region by AccuWeather Lightning Strike data.
Over 222,000 lightning strikes were detected over Greece, Turkey, the Black Sea, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, and the Mediterranean Sea in the two days prior to Tuesday evening local time.
Potential to become a 'medicane'
AccuWeather meteorologists say that as this feature churns over the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea, it has the potential to become what meteorologists refer to as a "medicane."
Medicane is a combination of the two words "Mediterranean" and "hurricane." Although it is not official terminology, the name separates the regional differences that these storms have, compared to tropical storms, cyclones or hurricanes. On rare occasions, medicanes have been recorded having the intensity of Category 1 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale for Hurricanes with sustained winds upwards of 74 mph (119 km/h). Forecasters say that these strong storms have become much more common than in the past.
"We have seen these being reported more in the last 20 years than previous time periods," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. "The last third of the year, essentially fall and earlier winter, is when we see them."
Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+
The sea temperatures in the southern Mediterranean Sea are currently ranging between 80-86 degrees Fahrenheit (27-30 degrees Celsius). By comparison, these values are high enough to meet the threshold for tropical development in the ocean basins across the world.
Widespread impacts across the Mediterranean countries
Impacts of significant flooding, bridge failures, overflowing riverbanks and mudslides have occurred in locations of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and southern Albania earlier this week. From the middle to late part of this week, rain and wind from Daniel is expected to tone down across these Balkan countries.
Outer bands of rain stretching from Daniel are even reaching parts of southern Italy, and rainfall is expected to persist in these locations through the end of the week as the storm slowly shifts southward across the Mediterranean.
Rain totals in southern Italy have not been as extreme as in Greece, but amounts of 1.15 inches (29.2 mm) have been observed across the higher terrain of Sila National Park.
In the western Mediterranean last weekend, a separate storm spread severe thunderstorms and widespread heavy rain across parts of Spain and Portugal. The cyclone was named Storm Dana by the Spanish Meteorological Agency over the weekend.
Numerous reports of flooding, damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes occurred as the storm circulated over the Iberian Peninsula. The flooding was so severe that a 10-year-old boy needed to be rescued after clinging to a tree overnight in order to escape the torrential floodwaters.
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
No comments:
Post a Comment