In the next few days, Italy will be enveloped by an exceptional African heat wave which will bring temperatures above the 40°C threshold.
The reason for the imminent heat wave in Italy is to be found in the expansion of an anticyclonic promontory of African origin, which has been pleasantly given the name of Minos. In Dante’s mythology, Minos is the demon responsible for listening to the confessions of sinful souls and assigning them their respective punishment in Hell, coiling his serpent tail as many times as there are circles of destination.
From a meteorological point of view, however, this is Minos it will mark the arrival of the first intense heat wave across the entire Italian territory. What causes this significant increase in temperatures, with values of approx 8-10°C beyond the climatic averages expected in mid-June, especially in the Centre-South, there will be the humid and warm air masses of subtropical origin which, from the heart of the anticyclone arriving from Africa already at the beginning of the week (Monday 17 June), will push from the arid expanses of the Sahara towards the Mediterranean.
Tuesday 18 June, maximum temperatures will reach 38°C in Sicily and Sardinia (with local peaks of up to 41°C, as in Perfugas and Mara in the Sassari area), 36°C in Benevento and Foggia, and for the first time in 2024, also 34°C in Rome, Florence and Frosinone.
But the heat will get even more intense in the near future Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th. In this context, we cannot exclude that locally they may be touched 42°C in Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily, especially in the hottest hours; elsewhere we will have values widely beyond i 39/40°C also on Lazio (with possible first 40°C of the year in Rome), Umbria, Marche and Tuscany; very hot even on the northern plains with temperatures up to 35/36°C. It will be the first peak of the heat with extreme and exceptional values.
Here are some data: Benevento and Foggia 40°C, Matera and Potenza (800 meters!) 38°C, Catania will be boiling with 37°C in the shade like Florence, Arezzo, Rome, Terni and Forlì. On the Major Islands, peaks of 42-43°C cannot be ruled out.
