Tempest Claudia Delivers More Inundation to the Portuguese nation and Spain
Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves recovering from widespread 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 weather system originated from an area of low pressure that had earlier driven early season chilly and snowy weather through eastern parts of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern US at the start of November.
The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Iberian region, caught in the trough of an progressively more wavy air current.
Consequences for Spain and Portugal
Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain coming down along its west coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a sluggish front of rain drifted across western parts of the peninsula.
More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday led to floods to parts of Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River invaded their residence as they were asleep.
Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a camping ground and a close-by inn in Albufeira in the south in southern Portugal on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an British woman aged 85 and wounding 28 individuals.
Broader Impacts across Europe
The storm produced broader repercussions across western Europe. By drawing warm air from the subtropics, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to 29.8C (85.6F), the nation's all-time high late autumn reading.
By last Friday, this tropical air mass clashed with a frigid air system across more northern parts of Europe, generating a precipitation zone running from Ireland's west to the Russian Federation.
In the Britain, this stalling band of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.
As Claudia progressively weakens in the coming days, the frigid air will push south, providing the continent its premier experience of the winter season.
Related Incidents in the state of California
The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" the previous week, bringing torrential rain and strong winds that led to flash flooding and landslides in regions scarred by blazes in the recent past.
Over two inches of rain fell in the southern region of the state on last Friday, with a another 50 millimetres across extensive areas of California on Saturday last.
More than 100mm of rain fell over shoreline regions of the state's south in all, hitting 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.
This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air stemming from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.
Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena region experienced the most severe the rapid inundations and mudslides, forcing residents to flee.
Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his vehicle was carried away from a submerged bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were swept into the Pacific by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.