Storm Claudia Delivers Additional Inundation to Portugal and Spain

The Iberian nations are again battling the aftermath of significant inundation following Storm Claudia brought torrential downpours and strong winds the previous week.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This meteorological event developed from an area of low pressure that had beforehand ushered in unseasonably early freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States at the start of November.

The system tracked eastwards across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the north-west of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, caught in the trough of an increasingly amplified atmospheric river.

Impact on Spain and Portugal

The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia was hit first, with three to six inches of rain pouring down along its Atlantic coast in just a single day up to the evening of Wednesday as a sluggish front of rain pushed across the western sectors of the region.

More downpours and stormy weather on Thursday last week caused inundations to areas in Portugal where a senior pair lost their lives in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River invaded their residence as they rested.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a twister devastating a camping ground and a adjacent hotel in Albufeira in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, fatally injuring an elderly British lady and wounding 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

The storm produced broader repercussions across the western European nations. By pulling tropical air from the subtropics, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to 85.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the country's highest recorded November temperature.

By last Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a cold air mass across the northern areas of Europe, creating a rainfall belt extending from Ireland's west to Russia.

In the UK, this stationary front of rain delivered exceptionally large precipitation amounts, leading to severe flooding in the principality of Wales.

As Claudia progressively weakens in the coming days, the cold air mass will advance southward, providing the continent its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California

The US state of California experienced an "atmospheric river" last week, delivering heavy rain and powerful winds that provoked sudden inundations and debris flows in regions affected by blazes in the recent past.

More than 50mm of rain poured down in southern California on the week's end, with a further 50mm widely across the state on Saturday last.

More than 100mm of rain accumulated over coastal areas of the state's south in all, attaining eight inches in total in areas of elevated terrain.

Such a weather system is a plume of hot, humid air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and Altadena endured the most severe the flash flooding and earth movements, forcing residents to flee.

Elsewhere in California, a man in his seventies died after his car was washed off a inundated overpass, and a seven-year-old girl and her dad were pulled into the Pacific by powerful waves on the the state's central shoreline.