Genoa – The view is like a summer postcard, even though it is only mid-April: even in Genoa – and not just on the Riviera – the beaches were stormed yesterday. Bathers driven by the desire for an early tan and the charm of a decidedly out-of-season dip.
A preview of summer which made people quickly put aside blankets and duvets in favor of t-shirts, light trousers and, at most, a cardigan. Already in the next few hours, however, the scenario will change significantly compared to what experts frame as a “heat bubble” that is not anomalous but certainly not usual.
«In Genoa, 26.7 degrees were reached on Friday – says Federico Grasso, Arpal manager – while between Saturday and Sunday the maximum temperatures, however, reached 24 degrees. The record? In Riccò del Golfo, in the La Spezia area, with 31.5 degrees on Saturday. These are intensely hot temperatures for a period like the current one.”
But already today, as mentioned, the scenario is changing: Arpal forecasts very cloudy skies, in particular on the west, due to the persistence of a south-eastern humid flow in the lower layers. Light rain is not excluded. Over the rest of the region the sky will be slightly cloudy, with clouds between the morning and early afternoon and thickening in the evening. From tomorrow, then, the entry of a disturbance will lead to possible showers: bad weather is also expected on Wednesday with temperatures dropping sharply. «The passage of the disturbance will take place above all in the night between tomorrow (today for those reading this) and April 16th – explains Grasso – the temperatures will drop, in particular, in the night between April 18th and 19th» (the forecasts a little further down).
In short: the heat of this weekend that has just ended risks taking on the traits of an albeit beautiful false start. «What we fear is uncertainty: both of the weather and of the seaside concessions», says Elvo Alpigiani, provincial president of Fiba, the Italian Federation of seaside businesses of Confesercenti. Many establishments aim to fill up on the occasion of long weekend of April 25th and May 1stthe start date of the actual bathing season.
«The desire for the sea is there, we had a weekend with full beaches and, although the water is still quite cold, many also took their first bath – highlights Alpigiani – we hope for stable weather conditions: in the past we have already suffered from an uncertain start to the weather which, until June, did not stabilize. Then there is the whole issue of concessions which certainly doesn’t make us feel comfortable, even due to the different paths taken from one municipality to another. Uncertainty is certainly not positive, even with respect to the investments we should make. On the other hand, however, we are receiving many bookings in view of the summer and this gives us hope.”
First sold-out weekend at the Squash baths in Corso Italia, one of the places that remains open all year round, even in the so-called winter sea period. «It was a truly packed weekend – says the owner Alessandro Puri, of Sib (the seaside union) of Genoa – we changed the management of the restaurant and this news was also absolutely appreciated».
The forecasts – Arpal’s supervisory bulletin
***for the codes A,B,C,D,E of the areas of Liguria refer to the legend below
Monday 15 April. Reinforcements of southern winds on the central reliefs and on exposed heads of A (40-50 km/h, locally up to 60 km/h on the ridges).
Tuesday 16 April. In the early hours of the night, isolated light to moderate showers are possible in the Levant, more likely in inland areas. From the afternoon northerly winds up to strong even gusty on BCE, from the late evening moderate to strong winds on A. Sea increasing to very rough everywhere during the morning. From mid-day sea to rough on C with possible storm surges due to elongating southwesterly waves, locally rough on the eastern part of B.
Wednesday 17 April. In the early hours of the morning, moderate northerly winds, even gusty, temporarily attenuated and strengthened again in the evening. In the morning swell decreasing to very rough on C due to long swell from the South West and to rough everywhere in the middle of the day. Sea rising again from mid-afternoon to very rough on C.
***The division into zones of the regional territory
ZONE A: Western Ligurian Maritime Basins
ZONE B: Central Ligurian Maritime Basins
ZONE C: Ligurian Maritime Basins of the East
ZONE D: Western Ligurian Po Valley basins
ZONE E: Ligurian Po Valley basins of the East
Tags: Liguria weekend assault beaches bad weather arrives forecast Wednesday
