A powerful African heat wave, with the anticyclone Minos, is about to hit Italy after a weekend in mid-June with a summer flavor, but with variable weather conditions. In the next few hours, the passage of an Atlantic front across the border, between Switzerland and Germany, will bring unstable air to the Alps and, locally, to the adjacent plains. Thunderstorms are expected in the morning in Valle d’Aosta, northern Piedmont and the Rhaetian Alps. In the rest of the country, especially in the Centre-South, the sun will prevail.
Starting from the afternoon of Saturday 15 June 2024, showers are also possible in the upper Piedmont-Lombardy plain and in the Dolomites, with greater intensity in northern Piedmont. Elsewhere, the sun will dominate, with maximum temperatures of up to 34°C in Foggia, 32°C in Matera, 31°C in Pesaro and 30°C in Bologna, confirming a gradual temperature increase also in the Centre-North, according to iLMeteo.it . On Sunday 16 June the weather will be more stable everywhere, with possible brief heat showers in the afternoon in the Alps and Pre-Alps, both western and eastern. In the Po Valley, in Liguria and in the Centre-South the weather will be ideal for outdoor activities; only in Sardinia are some showers expected from the south-west to the north-east and clouds arriving from late afternoon towards the Lazio coast. Maximum temperatures will continue to rise, reaching 36°C in Foggia, 35°C in Sicily, 32°C in Benevento and Cosenza and 30°C in Bologna.
However, these temperatures will only be a preview of the blaze of heat that will arrive from Monday with the African anticyclone Minos, bringing boiling air from the Sahara to all of Italy. Peaks of 35°C are expected in Puglia and Sicily on Monday 17 June, 33°C in Campania and Basilicata (Benevento and Matera), with a further increase also in the Centre-North. On Tuesday 18th, maximum temperatures will reach 38°C in Sicily and Sardinia (with possible local peaks of 41°C, such as in Perfugas and Mara in the Sassari area), 36°C in Benevento and Foggia and, for the first time in 2024, 34°C in Rome, Florence and Frosinone.
The first peak of heat is expected between Wednesday and Thursday, with extreme and exceptional temperatures: 40°C in Benevento and Foggia, 38°C in Matera and Potenza (at 800 meters above sea level!), 37°C in the shade in Catania, Florence, Arezzo, Rome, Terni and Forlì. On our Major Islands, peaks of 42-43°C cannot be ruled out.
Forecast:
- Saturday 15 June: North: slightly cloudy to cloudy; thunderstorms over the Alps and Pre-Alps. Center: good weather. South: good weather.
- Sunday 16 June: North: good weather. Centre: good weather, showers in Sardinia. South: good weather and a little warm.
ADNKronos reports it.
