DISCUSSION: As a strengthening low pressure system approached western and southwestern parts of Spain over the past few days, there has been a tremendous amount of energy and moisture transported towards and into parts of western Europe. As a result of this abundant moisture and energy, some areas such as this footage captured over in Veneguera, Spain received very heavy rainfall which led to flooding and even flash flooding in some parts of southwestern Spain. As you can clearly see in this footage, this part of Spain is quite mountainous which facilitates a greater likelihood of heavy rainfall run-off occurring which consequently will induce life-threatening mudslides and/or landslides into towns and villages.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz
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DISCUSSION: The same weather system responsible for bringing hail and flooding rainfall to Italy and Greece led to snowfall across the higher elevations of Romania earlier today. Videos posted to Facebook conveyed the wet nature of the snow as it continued to fall midday on Sunday. Suceava, which is one of the largest cities in Romania, received its first snowfall on Sunday providing residents and tourists with a taste of winter. Suceava, the largest city and the seat of Suceava county, is located in the Northeast corner of Romania. Snow begins to fall in this part of the country during the month of October and continues into the month of April. Since there is a lack of reliable data in Suceava county, snowfall measurements are unreliable and thus averages for the year are unavailable, according to climate data gathered at WeatherSpark.
The majority of the snow that fell across the city on Sunday melted as it reached the ground since temperatures as of late have mainly been at or above freezing. In the video posted below you can see that the snow is only sticking to grassy surfaces. This is typically what occurs when the snow is heavy and wet in nature. Ski resorts across the country were only reporting about 1-3cm (0.4-1.2 inches) of snowfall from this most recent weather event. Vatra Dornei, a city with an elevation of about 1,000m which is located to the Southwest of Suceava, reported 5cm (2 inches) of snow as the biggest winner this time around. More snowfall is in the forecast for this week, especially across the higher elevations, however temperatures appear to moderate as we head towards the end of the week. To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~ Meteorologist Jake Keiser 
Radar Image Gathered From Sat24, Showing The Wintry Precipitation Across Northeastern Romania On Oct. 16th, 2016 (Source: Sat24)
Impressive Thunderstorms Impact Northern Italy! (credit: Kachelmannwetter.com via Meteo Europe)10/15/2016   DISCUSSION: As strong thunderstorms fired up just to the west of northern Italy much earlier today (local time), there was a dramatically increased threat for severe weather impacts across many parts of northern Italy. This is a significant threat due to high concentration of wineries and grape farms in this part of Italy which are vulnerable to impacts for heavy rainfall (and consequential flooding as a result of heavy rainfall events) as well as occasional hailstorms in some instances. As seen in the infrared satellite image (attached above), you can denote cloud-top temperatures colder than -69° Celsius within certain parts of convective cloud shield. In the second image (located beneath the EUMETSAT infrared satellite image), you can denote the high concentration of lightning strikes observed in association with the aforementioned convective cluster over and just to the west of northern Italy! Lightning is one of nature's number 1 killers, so "when thunder roars, be sure to go indoors!"
To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As strong winds continue to impact various sections of Central/Eastern Europe, there remains to be a serious threat to global aviation interests (i.e., both commercial and private). This threat has been facilitated by a recent low pressure system which has since moved off to the east at this point in time. However, in the wake of the low's cold front passage, there still remains to be sufficient strong winds both somewhat and well above the surface. Whenever there are strong winds in the vicinity of and even within 2,000 ft (i.e., approximately 630 meters above the surface), this creates incredibly dangerous conditions for incoming aircraft that are trying to make their final approach for a safe landing. As seen in the footage above, this aircraft arriving in Prague was incredibly fortunate based on the extremely close-call with both the rear portion and both wings experiencing potentially catastrophic damage in what ended up being an aborted landing.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  Snowfall Map From Meteo Exploration Showing The Potential For Up To 50cm of Snow Across The Alps This Week. (Courtesy of meteoexploration.com). DISCUSSION: A slow-moving low pressure center, along with crisp autumn air, will lead to the first accumulating snowfall across the Alps. A weak area of low pressure located across Central Italy will be responsible for the first flakes to fly across the Alps this week. It will slowly trek eastward as we head into the work week, in doing so it will continue to throw back some moisture which in the case for the Alps will lead to their first accumulating snowfall of the season. Videos posted to Facebook earlier today caught the large wet flakes falling from the sky across Northern Italy. Up to 50cm (roughly 20 inches) is expected across the highest elevations of the tallest and most extensive mountain range in Europe over the next 5 days. Furthermore, as we head towards the weekend the models are hinting at even more snowfall across the Alps as a stronger area of low pressure makes its way onshore across Spain and Portugal and eventually across Italy as well. Snowfall across the Alps is not uncommon in October, however it is a little early when looking at the climatological past. Snowfall typically begins around November and continues through April and sometimes even May before it all melts away in the summer. The mean precipitation observed in the Alps (combination of rainfall and snowfall) ranges from a low of 2,600mm (100 inches) to a high of nearly 3,600mm (140 inches). The climate of this impressive mountain range has been studied and well documented since the Roman Empire. To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~ Meteorologist Jake Keiser  Fresh snow on Rifugio Lagazuoi (2752 m), NE Italy this morning! Image: Rifugiolagazuoi.com via StiriMeteo.com.  GFS 2-meter Temperature Anomaly (C) showing the Temperature departures from average with the Rex Block in place. (Red colors indicate warmer than average, Blue colors represent cooler than average.) (Courtesy of Tropical Tidbits) DISCUSSION: A large ridge setting up over Scandinavia, and a cutoff low pressure system retrograding westward into the Balkan region will be responsible for ushering in much cooler air over Central Europe as we head into the middle of the week. This setup is known as a Rex Block, where a large ridge builds North of a cutoff low to the South. Underneath the ridge (or high pressure area), dry conditions prevail, but flooding can occur around the upper-level low. The wind rotates around the two pressure areas in a backward ‘S’ shape, where the wind field is basically from North to South. A setup like this allows cooler air from the North to pour down southward. In a Rex Block, like any other block in the atmosphere such as an Omega Block, the weather stalls and other weather systems are forced to go around the block. There is typically very little eastward progression in this type of setup, in fact occasionally the pressure systems can retrograde westward before upper-level winds grab the systems and get the atmosphere moving again. Rex Blocks general occur across the Western United States and Western Europe, this time around it appears as though the blocking will setup more across Central Europe as we head into mid-week. With a Rex Block forming over Central Europe during this week, much cooler air will filter down across the Balkan Region leading to temperatures 10-12°C below average. This will provide some much needed to relief to many who have been suffering from sweltering heat conditions for the majority of the summer. Unfortunately for those across Spain and Portugal will not get a reprieve from the heat this time around. So for those of you across Central Europe, enjoy the beautiful autumn air headed your way this week and even into early next week. The Rex Block appears to hang around for quite some time as of now, according to the global weather models. Keep it tuned here for the latest breaking weather news across Europe! To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here!  An Idealized Representation of A Rex Block |
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