Exactly one year after the tragic floods in Emilia-Romagna, on 15 May 2024 bad weather hit Northern Italy heavily, causing incessant rains, overflows of various rivers and floods that required https://twitter.com/vigilidelfuoco/status/1791050118348644719 by the Fire Brigade within 24 hours, especially in the Milan area (358) and in the province of Monza and Brianza (200). Precipitation was particularly abundant, especially in Lombardy, where peaks even higher than 15 were recorded on 15 May 180mm in the space of 24 hours, a higher quantity of rain than what is expected in the North for the entire month of May. The state of has persisted since yesterday orange weather alert issued by the Civil Protection in areas of Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia for hydraulic and hydrogeological risk. Yellow alert instead in Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Piedmont, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Lombardy.
In Lombardy Lambro, Seveso and Sillaro flooded, causing flooding in Milan, Monza and the Lodi area. The intense rains also caused flooding and flooding in the provinces of Milan, Varese, Lodi and Cremona. The lamination tanks have been activated in Milan, Inverigo, Costa Masnaga (to contain the Bevera, a tributary of the Lambro) and the dam of Lake Pusiano.
In Veneto a state of emergency was declared and the bad weather crisis unit was activated. The cities of Verona and Padua were particularly affected, both flooded, with floods also in the provinces of Vicenza (where some bridges collapsed), Treviso and Rovigo. The lamination tanks were activated for the Bacchiglione (which exceeded 6 meters in height during the night), the Agno and the Laverda, which avoided even more serious damage especially in the Vicenza area. Flooding also in the low Friuliin particular Latisana (UD).
The heavy rainfall that hit the Northwest was due to a low pressure vortex off the Bay of Biscay, France, which is carrying moist currents south. What made the situation worse was theAlpine and pre-Alpine orography, which directed the currents by localizing the disturbances. In the last few hours the situation has improved slightly in Lombardy, with the level of the Lambro returning below emergency levels. The forecasts speak of further rain in Lombardy and Piedmont in the afternoon, while the disturbances will gradually move towards the North-East (Romagna, eastern Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
All this is happening while in the South highs have instead reached around 30°C and an almost summery climate, due to an air mass that extends from the North African regions bringing good weather and stability. In short, Italy appears split in two, with a drought-thirsty South and a flooded North. The extremization of weather phenomena is one of the consequences of the climate crisis due to global warming.
