Storm Claudia Delivers Additional Inundation to the Portuguese nation and Spain

Portugal and Spain are once more dealing with the consequences of widespread flooding following Storm Claudia delivered torrential downpours and powerful gusts the previous week.

Claudia's Genesis and Journey

The storm system originated from an area of low pressure that had beforehand driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern regions of Canada and the north-eastern United States during the beginning of the eleventh month.

Claudia moved eastward across the Atlantic Ocean during the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the northwestern area of the Spanish and Portuguese landmass, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified air current.

Consequences for the Iberian Peninsula

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

Further showers and thunderstorms on the following Thursday brought flooding to areas in Portugal where an older couple lost their lives in the capital Lisbon after floodwaters from the swollen Tagus flooded their dwelling as they slept.

Tempestuous weather continued into the weekend, with a violent whirlwind devastating a outdoor lodging area and a adjacent hotel in the town of Albufeira in Portugal's south on Saturday last week, claiming the life of an elderly British lady and wounding two dozen and eight persons.

Extended Consequences across the European continent

The storm produced wider effects across western Europe. By pulling tropical air from the warmer regions, the system helped temperatures in south-west France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high November temperature.

By last Friday, this tropical air mass met a cold air mass across the northern regions of the continent, generating a band of rain running from western Ireland to Russia.

In the United Kingdom, this halting system of rain produced record-breaking rain accumulations, resulting in major inundations in the principality of Wales.

As the storm progressively weakens in the coming days, the cold air mass will move towards the south, delivering to Europe its initial glimpse of colder weather.

Parallel Events in California

The Golden State underwent a plume of tropical moisture the previous week, delivering intense precipitation and strong winds that resulted in sudden inundations and debris flows in zones affected by blazes previously in the year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain fell in California's southern part on last Friday, with a further 50mm widely across the state on the subsequent Saturday.

Over four inches of rain accumulated over coastal parts of Southern CA in all, reaching 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

An atmospheric river is a plume of warm, moist air originating from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Palisades and Altadena region experienced the most intense the rapid inundations and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Across California, a man in his seventies died after his automobile was washed off a inundated overpass, and a child of seven years and her father were pulled into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.