Temperatures rising further, 5-6°C more in the next 36 hours: the peak of Minosthe African anticyclone which also brings a lot of desert sand, will unfortunately deliver frequent 40°C temperatures to the Center-South and a lot of heat to the North.
We asked Lorenzo Tedicimeteorologist from iLMeteo.it, all the weather information and secrets of Minos.
The expansion of the African anticyclone Minos will even reach Bavaria with exceptional heat even beyond the Alps: at the same time, infiltrations of more unstable Atlantic air will cause an increase in thunderstorms in the Alpine regions and, marginally, also in the adjacent areas of our North-West. Caution therefore due to the sharply increasing African heat, but also due to the thunderstorms which will be intense in the North by Friday.
What will happen in the next few hours?
In the next few hours, the Minos heat ranking will see Foggia in first place with 40°C, silver medal for Carbonia with 39°C, all together on the lowest step of the podium at 38°C we will find Caltanissetta, Matera, Nuoro, Syracuse and Taranto.
Will it start to get hot at night too?
Unfortunately yes, the ‘Tropical Nights’ are back (nights with values above 20°C): Cagliari, Milan and Palermo are among the hottest cities at night with 23°C, with night temperatures expected to rise sharply in the coming days.
What will Solstice day be like?
The day of the Solstice (Thursday 20 June) will be even hotter: Taranto 41°C, Benevento, Caserta and Terni 40, widespread 39°C is expected in Sicily and Puglia, 38° even in Florence and Rome together with Matera and Oristano . Also on Thursday, tropical nights will dominate our dreams, extremely so in Sardinia with minimums between 25 and 28°C; also in Ancona (excuse the pun) a tropical night with 24°C is expected, as in much of Sicily. In the North, the ‘Saharan’ Milan will be reached by Bergamo and Cremona with a ‘sticky’ minimum of 23°C.
Are there any storms forecast for the Solstice?
In the North-West, yes: during the Summer Solstice 2024 we expect the arrival of strong storms towards Piedmont, Valle d’Aosta and Lombardy, a first break in the oppressive heat of Minos.
What will the weather be like on Friday 21 June?
Friday will be even hotter at night: in Florence a minimum of between 24 and 26°C is expected (depending on how much cloud cover persists during the night), with 25°C also in the Po Valley; it will be the first triumph of Italian tropical nights with sweaty sheets from North to South.
Sky-high heat at night… and what do you expect for the heat during the day?
The ‘daytime’ heat will still be extreme especially in the South, especially in Puglia, Campania and Sicily with 41°C in Taranto, 40°C in Benevento and Caserta, 39°C between Syracuse and Caltanissetta. Storms will arrive in the North, even intense ones, which will mitigate the heat, but will be potentially dangerous with gusts of wind and hail.
When will this unbearable heat end?
Slowly, since the weekend. With the arrival of a core of fresh air of Northern European origin, with some thunderstorms and the ‘deflation’ of high pressure, we will witness the probable defeat of Minos: frequent showers are expected, especially from Sunday onwards and for much of the next week with a gradual drop in temperatures.
Conclusions?
The last week of June will be eventful with prevailing sun in the morning and strong thunderstorms in the afternoon; in practice we will experience a somewhat equatorial climate after the North African heat and the Saharan dust of Minos. An Italy, increasingly, towards a general tropicalization of the climate.
