Storm Claudia Delivers Additional Flooding to Portugal and Spain

Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of extensive inundation following Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and powerful gusts last week.

The Storm's Genesis and Journey

The storm system developed from a low-pressure zone that had earlier ushered in early season cold and snowy conditions through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern US in early November.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before decelerating and halting to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, caught in the trough of an ever more meandering atmospheric river.

Impact on Iberia

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its west coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday evening as a sluggish front of rain crawled across western parts of the region.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday brought flooding to parts of Portugal where an older couple lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River entered their home as they rested.

Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind devastating a outdoor lodging area and a nearby hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, killing an 85-year-old British woman and injuring 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

The storm produced broader repercussions across the western European nations. By siphoning heated air from the warmer regions, the system helped temperatures in southwestern France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By the following Friday, this warm and humid air mass clashed with a frigid air system across the northern areas of Europe, creating a band of rain running from Ireland's west to the Russian Federation.

In the Britain, this halting system of rain produced exceptionally large precipitation amounts, resulting in significant waterlogging in the Welsh region.

As this weather phenomenon loses strength in the coming days, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, providing the continent its first taste of colder weather.

Related Incidents in California, USA

The Golden State encountered a so-called atmospheric river last week, delivering intense precipitation and high-velocity gusts that provoked sudden inundations and debris flows in regions affected by forest fires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in southern California on Friday, with a additional two inches across extensive areas of California on the subsequent Saturday.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell over coastal areas of southern California in total, attaining 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

This meteorological feature is a plume of hot, humid air coming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena suffered the most severe the sudden floods and landslides, leading to evacuations.

In other parts of the state, a man in his seventies passed away after his car was washed off a inundated overpass, and a young girl aged seven and her dad were dragged into the sea by powerful waves on the Central Coast.