A month's worth of rainfall in a single day could trigger mudslides in southern Europe this week
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 18, 2019 5:04 PM EDT
Vehicles barely avoid being buried by mud and trees after a landslide in Chongqing, China. Seen here, the mud and trees tumbled down a mountain onto a busy road on Oct. 16. No casualties were reported, but the section of this road has been closed due to safety issues.
After a round of rain brought flooding to southern France and northwest Italy over the weekend, another storm system will bring additional rain to the western Mediterranean through Thursday.
Last week, Montpellier had 30 mm (1.20 inches) of rainfall on Monday and Tuesday. In just a single day, Geona, Italy, received over 130 mm (5.1 inches) of rain, almost an entire month's worth, on just Tuesday.
This storm arrived along the southeastern coast of Spain on Monday night. This rain will intensify as it continues to spread north and east through the middle of the week.
"As this second storm enters the Mediterranean Sea, it will stall over the Balearic Sea for about 48 hours," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.
The immobile storm will allow round after round of rain to batter eastern Spain and far southern France, leading to the higher rainfall totals.
Some of the communities most at risk include Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza in Spain and Béziers and Perpignan in southern France.
"Heavy rainfall of 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) will be possible through Wednesday," Edwards added.
An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ï¸ of 200 mm (8 inches) is expected with the storm.
Normal October rainfall in Barcelona is 86 mm (3.39 inches). The city may have this amount of rainfall into Wednesday. Should a heavy band of rain set up across the city, this amount of rain may fall in a single day.
This is a region of southern Europe that has been much drier as of late, so overall, some locations could use the rain.
However, areas that are hit with repeated rounds could be inundated with too much rain too quickly, resulting in flooding. Mudslides will also be a concern.
In urban areas, heavy rain will pond on the roadways and could cause hydroplaning and delays.
An onshore wind for northeast Spain could also bring coastal flooding, especially at times of high tide.
Later on Wednesday and into Thursday, some of this rain will spread to the east into southeast France and Italy. Unlike the western Mediterranean coast, these are areas that have recently had heavy rainfall.
"After all the rain the region has already received, flooding will certainly be a concern with this next storm," adds Edwards.
While rainfall will not be as heavy in these areas compared to in Spain, the previous wet weather and saturated ground may cause additional flooding to occur more quickly.
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News / Weather News
A month's worth of rainfall in a single day could trigger mudslides in southern Europe this week
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 18, 2019 5:04 PM EDT
Vehicles barely avoid being buried by mud and trees after a landslide in Chongqing, China. Seen here, the mud and trees tumbled down a mountain onto a busy road on Oct. 16. No casualties were reported, but the section of this road has been closed due to safety issues.
After a round of rain brought flooding to southern France and northwest Italy over the weekend, another storm system will bring additional rain to the western Mediterranean through Thursday.
Last week, Montpellier had 30 mm (1.20 inches) of rainfall on Monday and Tuesday. In just a single day, Geona, Italy, received over 130 mm (5.1 inches) of rain, almost an entire month's worth, on just Tuesday.
This storm arrived along the southeastern coast of Spain on Monday night. This rain will intensify as it continues to spread north and east through the middle of the week.
"As this second storm enters the Mediterranean Sea, it will stall over the Balearic Sea for about 48 hours," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Edwards.
The immobile storm will allow round after round of rain to batter eastern Spain and far southern France, leading to the higher rainfall totals.
Some of the communities most at risk include Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza in Spain and Béziers and Perpignan in southern France.
"Heavy rainfall of 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) will be possible through Wednesday," Edwards added.
An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ï¸ of 200 mm (8 inches) is expected with the storm.
Normal October rainfall in Barcelona is 86 mm (3.39 inches). The city may have this amount of rainfall into Wednesday. Should a heavy band of rain set up across the city, this amount of rain may fall in a single day.
Related:
This is a region of southern Europe that has been much drier as of late, so overall, some locations could use the rain.
However, areas that are hit with repeated rounds could be inundated with too much rain too quickly, resulting in flooding. Mudslides will also be a concern.
In urban areas, heavy rain will pond on the roadways and could cause hydroplaning and delays.
An onshore wind for northeast Spain could also bring coastal flooding, especially at times of high tide.
Later on Wednesday and into Thursday, some of this rain will spread to the east into southeast France and Italy. Unlike the western Mediterranean coast, these are areas that have recently had heavy rainfall.
"After all the rain the region has already received, flooding will certainly be a concern with this next storm," adds Edwards.
While rainfall will not be as heavy in these areas compared to in Spain, the previous wet weather and saturated ground may cause additional flooding to occur more quickly.
Report a Typo