Heavy Snow, Flooding Rain to Slam Italy, Balkans Midweek

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

March 2,2015; 8:25PM,EST

 

 

A weak storm entering western Europe from the Atlantic will dive southward and rapidly intensify over Italy from later Wednesday into Thursday.
The storm will bring locally heavy rain and high-elevation snow to Italy while a more widespread snow falls from the Dinaric Alps eastward into Romania.
While precipitation will fall mainly as rain across Italy, the higher terrain can expect significant snowfall accumulations. Flooding will be the biggest concern across Italy with central Italy bearing the brunt of this storm system. Rainfall of 25-75 mm (1-3 inches) will be common with localized amounts over 125 mm (5 inches).

On the western side of the Dinaric Alps, moisture from the Mediterranean Sea will lead to heavy rain and a flooding threat from Slovenia to Greece. Rainfall totals of 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) will be common.
In the Dinaric Alps, heavy snowfall could total more than 50 cm (20 inches) with a widespread travel disrupting snow falling farther east across Serbia, northern Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and northern Romania.
In these areas, snow from Wednesday night into Thursday will cause travel chaos as roads will be snow covered leading to slow travel or possible road closures. Flights in this region will also likely see long delays or cancellations.
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Locations that can expect accumulating snowfall include Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Zagreb, Croatia; Belgrade, Serbia: and Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
This storm will further build the snow pack in the Dinaric Alps and Carpathian Mountains heightening the threat for flooding this spring as milder air and frequent storms combine with snow melt.