Storm Claudia Brings More Flooding to the Portuguese nation and Spain
The Iberian nations are again dealing with the consequences of significant inundation following Storm Claudia delivered heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.
Claudia's Formation and Trajectory
The storm system originated from a region of depressed atmospheric pressure that had earlier ushered in early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of Canada and the north-eastern United States in early November.
Claudia tracked eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Iberian region, trapped within a trough of an progressively more wavy air current.
Impact on Spain and Portugal
Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was initially impacted, with three to six inches of rain coming down along its Atlantic coast in just 24 hours up to Wednesday night as a slow-moving band of rain drifted across the western sectors of the peninsula.
Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday caused inundations to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they slept.
Stormy conditions persisted into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind ripping through a outdoor lodging area and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in southern Portugal on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and harming 28 people.
Wider Effects across Europe
Claudia had broader repercussions across Europe's western part. By pulling tropical air from the subtropical zones, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in France's south-west to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's highest recorded late autumn reading.
By Friday, this tropical air mass met a chilly atmospheric body across more northern parts of the continent, generating a precipitation zone stretching from Ireland's west to the Russian Federation.
In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain produced very high rainfall totals, leading to significant waterlogging in Wales.
As the storm progressively weakens at the start of the week, the chilly atmospheric system will move towards the south, providing the continent its premier experience of colder weather.
Related Incidents in the state of California
California underwent a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, bringing intense precipitation and powerful winds that resulted in sudden inundations and debris flows in regions scarred by wildfires earlier this year.
More than 50mm of rain poured down in California's southern part on Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday.
More than 100mm of rain accumulated over coastal parts of the state's south in all, attaining 200mm overall in locations at higher elevations.
This meteorological feature is a concentrated stream of hot, humid air coming from the tropics or subtropics.
Locations with fire damage including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena suffered the most intense the sudden floods and landslides, leading to evacuations.
Across California, a man in his seventies died after his vehicle was carried away from a flooded bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her dad were swept into the ocean by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.