Tempest Claudia Delivers More Flooding to Portugal and Spain

Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves dealing with the consequences of widespread inundation in the wake of Storm Claudia unleashed torrential downpours and strong winds over the past seven days.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event originated from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand caused early season chilly and snowy weather through the eastern regions of Canada and the north-eastern US in early November.

Claudia journeyed east across the Atlantic in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified atmospheric river.

Consequences for the Iberian Peninsula

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was hit first, with 80-150mm of rain pouring down along its western coastline in just a single day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain crawled across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday led to floods to Portuguese localities where an older couple died in Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind devastating a camping ground and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in the south in southern Portugal on Saturday, killing an elderly British lady and wounding two dozen and eight persons.

Broader Impacts across the European continent

Claudia had more extensive impacts across western Europe. By pulling tropical air from the subtropical zones, the system assisted in raising temperatures in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By Friday, this tropical air mass met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern regions of Europe, forming a rainfall belt running from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the Britain, this stalling band of rain brought very high rainfall totals, causing major inundations in the Welsh region.

As Claudia continues to weaken at the start of the week, the cold air mass will move towards the south, providing the continent its first taste of the winter season.

Related Incidents in California, USA

The Golden State underwent a plume of tropical moisture last week, delivering intense precipitation and powerful winds that led to rapid flooding and landslides in regions scarred by blazes in the recent past.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in California's southern part on the week's end, with a additional two inches widely across the state on Saturday last.

Over four inches of rain fell over coastal parts of Southern CA in aggregate, reaching 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.

This meteorological feature is a narrow band of tropical, saturated air originating from the equatorial or near-equatorial zones.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena suffered the worst of the flash flooding and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his vehicle was swept off a flooded bridge, and a seven-year-old girl and her parent were pulled into the sea by big swells on the Central Coast.