After the strong storms that affected Piedmont, Lombardy and part of the Veneto last evening, the situation is not likely to improve during the night.
Due to the impetuous entry of fresh air at high altitude we do not exclude the possibility of the feared formation superstorm cells. These are extreme phenomena capable of triggering heavy rainfall, very strong winds, hailstorms and in the rarest cases even tornadoes.
All eyes therefore focused on the night in particular on Piedmont and Lombardy with new thunderstorms and cloudbursts that could mainly affect the provinces of Turin, Biella, Novara, Varese, Como, Pavia, Monza-Brianza and Milan. The provinces of will also be involved later Bergamo and Brescia with extension of the bad weather also on part of the Veneto and Friuli. We therefore recommend maximum caution on the roads, particularly in the underpasses which often turn into real water traps.
A timid improvement is expected in the early hours of Wednesday 12 June, but it will only be a brief respite. Already from late Wednesday morning, new storms will begin to develop, intensifying between the afternoon and evening in many regions of Northern Italy, including Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Trentino Alto Adige and finally Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The SUPERCELLS
In the classification of thunderstorms, supercells are the most dangerous phenomena in terms of power released and potential damage. These are immense storm systems up to 10/12 km high within which there is a low pressure area defined in the technical term mesocyclone.
With increasing heat, the potential energy (humidity and heat in the lower layers of the atmosphere) also increases, which is at play for the development of impressive storm cells, capable of causing extreme weather events such as large hail and, in rarer cases, even devastating tornadoes (or whirlwinds in Italian, we remind you that the two terms are synonymous), as the recent news of recent years reminds us.
BIG HAIL and DOWNBURST
Not only that, with supercells the probability of large hail (up to 8-10 cm in diameter) associated with strong gusts of wind up to 120-130 km/h, called in jargon downburst. The latter, also defined as a descending gust, is a meteorological phenomenon that consists of strong descending gusts of wind with horizontal motion exiting the advancing front of the storm. The gusts can reach very high speeds, even above 100 km/h.
CIVIL PROTECTION ALERT
The warning From the late afternoon of Tuesday 11 June, scattered to widespread rainfall is expected, with a predominantly shower or thunderstorm character, over Piedmont, Lombardy and Friuli Venezia Giulia, extending to Emilia-Romagna and the autonomous province of Bolzano. The phenomena will be accompanied by heavy showers, frequent electrical activity, local hailstorms and strong gusts of wind.
On the basis of the foreseen and ongoing phenomena, it was evaluated for the day of Wednesday 12 June, ORANGE ALERT due to risk of thunderstorms in part of Lombardy, yellow alert in parts of Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and in the autonomous province of Bolzano, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Umbria.
