Far-Reaching Storm to Move Across Mediterranean

By Adam Douty, Meteorologist

March 22,2015; 10:30PM,EDT

 

 

Unsettled weather during the weekend across the Mediterranean will continue through the beginning of the coming week as an area of low pressure strengthens over the region.
On Monday, low pressure across Spain will bring showers and a few thunderstorms from Morocco to Portugal and Spain. These areas will remain wet through Tuesday as rain spreads east further east across northern Africa and into France and southern England.
With widespread clouds and showers, travel delays are expected on the roads and at airports from Madrid, Spain to Paris, France.
Not only will this storm bring cloudy and wet conditions, temperature highs across much of western Europe will be below normal. Madrid is expected to barely rise above 10 C (50 F) on Monday which is about 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) below normal.

Further to the south, thunderstorms will develop on Tuesday across eastern Algeria and into Tunisia. These thunderstorms will bring potentially damaging wind gusts and flash flooding across the desert terrain. Strong winds outrunning thunderstorms could produce sandstorms.
Late on Tuesday and into the night these storms will advance into northwestern Libya.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms will then slam into Italy and the Balkans on Wednesday as the area of low pressure continue to strengthen.
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Due to the heavy rain and high snow levels that are expected, flooding will be a concern from eastern Croatia to Albania and southern Italy. 25-75 mm (1-3 inches) of rain is expected to fall in these areas.
Snow levels across the Alps will be 1,500 to 2,000 meters (5,000-6,000 feet). As a result many of the valleys will see rain while the mountains and ski resorts receive snow. Upwards of 30 cm (12 inches) of snow is expected to fall at the higher terrain with even higher totals in northwestern Italy.