The Italy remains divided in two on the front of the weather. To the North part arrived the Maltempo, with very strong thunderstorms, hail, cloudbursts and gusts of wind. South, however, the summer continues: Sun, hot and temperatures up to 36 degrees. The low pressure system currently moving across the North will move toward the Center in the next few hours and will reach its most intense phase on Friday, August 21st.
After weeks of intense heat, the change in weather will be especially noticeable in the northern regions, where temperatures will drop by several degrees. Further south, however, the African anticyclone will continue to maintain summer-like conditions.
Thunderstorms, hail, and downpours: Severe weather hits the North
The worsening is already underway in the northern regions. Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia are the areas most affected by temporal, hail, strong gusts of wind and rain that can sometimes be very heavy. In Liguria, the severe weather has already caused exceptional rainfall: in Sestri Levante, 276 millimeters of rain fell in just two hours.
The situation remains delicate throughout the day Thursday August 20The heaviest rainfall could cause flooding and, in the most exposed areas, even landslides and mudslides. Lombardy is on orange alert for storms and hydrogeological risk, while theyellow alert concerns different areas of Piedmont, Liguria, Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna and Lombardy e ToscanaDuring the day, the phenomena could also affect Tuscany, preparing the passage of the disturbance towards the Centre.
The worsening will in fact reach its most delicate moment Friday August 21. Strong thunderstorms are still expected in the North, especially between Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with possible hailstorms, cloudbursts and gusts of wind. The disturbance will however descend towards Centro, of particular interest Toscana, Umbria e LazioIn Tuscany, the most intense phenomena are expected between night and morning, while in the rest of Central Italy the situation could become more unstable during the day.
With the passage of the disturbance it will also arrive a sharp drop in temperaturesIn the North, highs on Friday could drop to 22-27 degrees, marking a marked change from the heat of recent days. Temperatures will also begin to drop in central Italy in areas affected by the bad weather.
The heat continues in central and southern Italy, reaching temperatures of up to 36 degrees Celsius.
While the North changes face, the hot continues to interest the Center-Sud, especially in the southern regions and the islands. Today, temperatures could reach 36 degrees, while on Friday they will generally remain between 31 and 33 degrees. The contrast will therefore be particularly striking: just a few hundred kilometers away, the thunderstorms and cooler air of the North will give way to sunshine and still-high temperatures in the South.
The heat, after all, isn't just a concern in the South. In the Ministry of Health bulletin for Thursday, August 20, six cities have been given an orange warning: Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Campobasso, Palermo e Rome. Another 13 are instead in yellow dot: Brescia, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Messina, Perugia, Pescara, Reggio Calabria, Rieti, Venice e Viterbo.
Da Friday the number of cities with orange stamp will drop to four: Bari, Campobasso, Palermo e Pescara, while the drop in temperatures will be more noticeable in the Center-North. The picture will therefore remain very different from one part of the country to another: the bad weather will advance from the North toward the Center, while the heat will continue to persist in the South. This pattern could persist over the weekend, with greater instability in the North and continued high temperatures, especially in the Center-South and on the Islands.
