🔗 Share this article

Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves battling the aftermath of extensive inundation following Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts over the past seven days.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event formed from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand caused early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the American north-east in early November.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering air current.

Consequences for Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just 24 hours up to Wednesday evening as a slow-moving band of rain drifted across the western sectors of the peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on the following Thursday led to floods to areas in Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Stormy conditions lasted through the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a campsite and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on Saturday, fatally injuring an 85-year-old British woman and harming 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across the European continent

The storm produced broader repercussions across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the warmer regions, the system helped temperatures in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the state's maximum ever late autumn reading.

By last Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a chilly atmospheric body across more northern parts of Europe, forming a band of rain running from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the UK, this halting system of rain brought very high rainfall totals, leading to severe flooding in Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken in the coming days, the cold air mass will push south, providing the continent its initial glimpse of winter.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

California underwent a so-called atmospheric river the previous week, delivering intense precipitation and powerful winds that resulted in rapid flooding and debris flows in areas scarred by wildfires in the recent past.

Over two inches of rain was recorded in southern California on Friday, with a additional two inches widely across the state on Saturday.

Over four inches of rain was deposited on coastal areas of Southern CA in total, attaining eight inches in total in spots on high ground.

Such a weather system is a narrow band of warm, moist air coming from the tropics or subtropics.

Regions previously burned including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena region endured the most intense the rapid inundations and earth movements, forcing residents to flee.

In other parts of the state, a man in his seventies passed away after his automobile was swept off a inundated overpass, and a seven-year-old girl and her father were dragged into the ocean by big swells on the the state's central shoreline.