Major Flash Flooding Event Slams Parts of Western Austria and Beyond! (credit: Meteo Europe)

DISCUSSION: Over the past 24 to 36 hours, a small (but potent) piece of mid-level energy propagated across portions of west-central Europe and moved across areas which included (but were certainly not limited to) far western Austria, eastern Switzerland, and far southern sections of Germany.  Across many cities/towns located in these parts of those respective countries there was a clear focal point for strong convection which fired up during the day on Saturday.  Having said that, there was also a consistent explanation for the particularly focused nature of this regional European flooding (and in some cases the flash flooding) event which unfolded during the day on Saturday.  This explanation can be best characterized by the areas of elevated terrain helping to facilitate the greater likelihood of heavier rainfall on a more localized scale.  This is due to the fact that the more elevated terrain across these parts of those respective countries forces air parcels to more abruptly move up and over such topographic barriers (e.g., hills, plateaus, mountain ridges, etc.).  

During such orographic-enhancement of precipitating-clouds, there is even more liquid water "squeezed" out of developing convection via increased instability due to the air parcels rising and being forced to expand more and more with increasing height.  Thus, this favorable convective combination allowed for notably heavier rainfall to unfold in cities such as Tux, Austria as captured in the raw footage above.  Events such as the major flash flooding event captured above just yesterday afternoon (local time in western Austria), reinforce the importance of always remaining weather-ready at all times regardless of your location, plans, or individual circumstances prior to or during the occurrence of the flooding.

To learn more about other high-impact flooding events from around the world, be sure to click here!

©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz