Heavy Snow, Rain to Slam Italy, Balkans Into Friday
Flash Flooding, winds, mudslides, coastal flooding
A potent storm will slam Italy and the Balkan Peninsula with heavy snow, flooding rain and gusty winds for the second half of this week.
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.
Across Italy, central areas will bear 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). The highest totals will be measured along the eastern foothills of the Apennines.
While precipitation will fall mainly as rain across Italy, the higher terrain can expect significant snowfall accumulations.
“There will be areas in the Apennines that get locally 15 cm (6 inches) of snow. Combined with strong northeasterly winds, blizzardlike conditions will develop in the passes connecting western and eastern Italy, which will clog and shut down travel,” stated AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Tyler Roys.
The northeasterly winds, called Bora winds, will gust between 80 and 95 kph (50 and 60 mph) through the passes, according to Roys. The strength of these winds could cause tree damage and power outages.
“Wind gusts of 80 kph (50 mph) will even whip Rome Thursday through Friday.”
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, eastern Croatia and northern Romania.
“The main concern is that the snow will be wet and heavy, which will not only create travel disruptions, but also the potential for downed trees and power lines,” added Roys.
Flights in this region will also likely endure long delays or cancellations.
Locations that can expect significant accumulating snowfall include Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Belgrade, Serbia; and Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
“The problem [with the heavy, wet snow] is that the impacts are not going to be fixed the next day,” stated Roys. “It may take several days for crews to clean the snow and things could be bottled up through the weekend.”
By Saturday, the storm will move to the east allowing for improvement across Italy. Meanwhile, heavy rain and interior snow will persist across the southern Balkan Peninsula. Soaking rain will even spread into eastern Turkey to start the weekend.
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.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/heavy-snow-rain-to-slam-italy/43235076