Storm Claudia Delivers Additional Inundation to Portugal and Spain

The Iberian nations are again recovering from widespread inundation following Storm Claudia unleashed heavy rain and strong winds over the past seven days.

The Storm's Origin and Path

This meteorological event formed from an area of low pressure that had beforehand driven early season freezing temperatures and snowfall through the eastern sectors of the Canadian territory and the north-eastern United States in early November.

The system moved eastward across the Atlantic during the second weekend of November before losing momentum and stopping to the northwestern area of the Iberian peninsula, snared in a dip of an increasingly amplified jet stream.

Consequences for the Iberian Peninsula

Spain's Galicia area in the northwest was hit first, with three to six inches of rain falling along its Atlantic coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a sluggish front of rain crawled across western parts of the peninsula.

Further showers and thunderstorms on Thursday last week led to floods to Portuguese localities where an elderly couple 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 violent whirlwind tearing through a camping ground and a close-by inn in Albufeira in the south in Portugal's south on Saturday, claiming the life of an 85-year-old British woman and wounding 28 individuals.

Extended Consequences across Europe

This system triggered more extensive impacts across the western European nations. By drawing warm air from the warmer regions, the system assisted in raising temperatures in France's south-west to 29.8C (85.6F), the state's maximum ever November temperature.

By last Friday, this warm and humid air mass met a frigid air system across more northern parts of Europe, forming a precipitation zone extending from the west of Ireland to Russia.

In the Britain, this stationary front of rain delivered exceptionally large precipitation amounts, causing severe flooding in the principality of Wales.

As Claudia progressively weakens early this week, the chilly atmospheric system will push south, providing the continent its initial glimpse of the winter season.

Simultaneous Occurrences in California, USA

The Golden State underwent an "atmospheric river" the previous week, bringing heavy rain and strong winds that provoked sudden inundations and landslides in regions affected by wildfires previously in the year.

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

Over four inches of rain was deposited on shoreline regions of the state's south in all, reaching a full 200 millimetres in locations at higher elevations.

Such a weather system is a narrow band of hot, humid air stemming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Regions previously burned including Pacific Palisades and the town of Altadena experienced the most severe the sudden floods and earth movements, prompting evacuations.

Across California, a elderly male passed away after his car was swept off a submerged bridge, and a child of seven years and her dad were swept into the Pacific by large waves on the the state's central shoreline.