🔗 Share this article

Once again, Portugal and Spain find themselves recovering from extensive inundation in the wake of Tempest Claudia delivered heavy rain and strong winds over the past seven days.

The Storm's Formation and Trajectory

This weather system originated from a low-pressure zone that had earlier caused unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the American north-east in early November.

This storm journeyed east across the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the second week of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, caught in the trough of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Effects in Iberia

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was initially impacted, with a substantial 80 to 150 millimetres of rain falling along its western coastline in just 24 hours up to the evening of Wednesday as a slow-moving band of rain drifted across the western areas of the Iberian peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on the following Thursday brought flooding to parts of Portugal where an elderly couple died in the city of Lisbon after rising waters from the bursting Tagus River flooded their dwelling as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a twister tearing through a camping ground and a nearby hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and injuring 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across the European continent

The storm produced more extensive impacts across western Europe. By drawing warm air from the subtropical zones, the system assisted in raising temperatures in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By last Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body clashed with a frigid air system across more northern parts of the continent, forming a band of rain extending from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the Britain, this stationary front of rain delivered record-breaking rain accumulations, resulting in major inundations in Wales.

As Claudia continues to weaken early this week, the cold air mass will push south, giving Europe its premier experience of the winter season.

Simultaneous Occurrences in the state of California

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" last week, delivering heavy rain and high-velocity gusts that led to flash flooding and debris flows in zones affected by forest fires previously in the year.

Over two inches of rain fell in California's southern part on last Friday, with a further 50mm broadly over the state on Saturday.

In excess of 100 millimetres of rain fell over coastal areas of the state's south in total, attaining a full 200 millimetres in areas of elevated terrain.

Such a weather system is a plume of warm, moist air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Locations with fire damage including the Pacific Palisades area and Altadena region experienced the most intense the sudden floods and mudslides, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a elderly male lost his life after his vehicle was carried away from a flooded bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were pulled into the sea by powerful waves on the California's Central Coast.