🔗 Share this article

Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation after Tempest Claudia delivered heavy rain and powerful gusts the previous week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

The storm system originated from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had earlier ushered in early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.

This storm moved eastward across the Atlantic Ocean over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, caught in the trough of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Effects in Iberia

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain falling along its western coastline in just a single day up to Wednesday evening as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across the western sectors of the region.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple perished in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus entered their home as they slept.

Unsettled atmospheric states continued into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind devastating a camping ground and a nearby hotel in the town of Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday, killing an elderly British lady and injuring 28 people.

Broader Impacts across Europe

Claudia had more extensive impacts across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By the following Friday, this tropical air mass collided with a cold air mass across the northern areas of Europe, generating a rainfall belt running from the west of Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this stationary front of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, leading to major inundations in Wales.

As this weather phenomenon progressively weakens at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, giving Europe its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Parallel Events in California

California experienced a plume of tropical moisture recently, bringing torrential rain and high-velocity gusts that provoked flash flooding and mudslides in zones affected by wildfires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in the southern region of the state on Friday, with a further 50mm broadly over the state on Saturday last.

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal areas of southern California in aggregate, attaining eight inches in total in spots on high ground.

An atmospheric river is a plume of tropical, saturated air coming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena suffered the worst of the rapid inundations and landslides, leading to evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a elderly male passed away after his vehicle was carried away from a flooded bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were swept into the ocean by big swells on the California's Central Coast.