January and the Risk of African Anticyclone

january and the risk of African anticyclone. Yes, it’s true, we’re talking to you about the coming cold, about a meteorological situation that’s the opposite of the current one, but today’s aspect should make you think a lot. We had an anticyclone for many days in December Indeed,he prevailed unchallenged. There were few rainy days,very few snow ones,which then fell exclusively on the hills and in the extreme Nord Ovest. In the newspapers we read the news that in some areas of Alps tourists arrive for the Christmas period but the natural snow it’s practically not there.

To find snow you have to go up to altitude, but above all there is a fundamental problem: the typical autumn precipitations were missing. When these arrived, there were very high temperatures and therefore the snow level remained very high. Then the sun arrived, that of African anticyclone which melted a good part of it, and which then even prevented the formation of widespread fog in Po Valley. On the contrary, due to the thermal contrasts between the Mediterranean Sea still hot and the nocturnal cooling of the emerged lands of the Italian peninsula the fog showed up on cost, even in Puglia and in Southern Italy. But also in Central Italy and northern Adriatic coasts.

The anomalies of a winter that didn’t take off

The fog that appeared in many locations highlights a climatic anomaly all in all relevant, as in reality it would be at home in this period Po Valley but the fog, the classic winter one, is not there. Just as there isn’t even Alpine Christmas snow or there is very little compared to what there should be; surely some places have enough, but they are few. not to mention the Apennines which saw snow sporadically only on the peaks, soon melted by the anticyclone.

The seasons are changing. We experience a series of defined weather situations Extreme Weather, a definition that encompasses the extremization of climate and weather which appears to be extreme: little middle ground and above all excessive phenomena, both heat and cold when there is one. And then above all the rains: when they happen they are very abundant, while in some places it practically doesn’t rain and there is a strong rainfall deficit.

Climate change or fluctuation?

This is all part of Extreme Weather, it’s part of Climate Change, but also of climate fluctuations which come together to generate a persistent weather situation unsuitable for the season. Autumn is now over and we are in winter, the season in which the peak of rainfall is expected in the central-southern regions, in Sardinia and in Sicily while a minimum peak of precipitation at Northern Italy it is, all things considered, normal. Few know that the absence of thunderstorms over the regions of Northern Italy

atmospheric Unknowns and Arctic Amplification

Beyond forecasts, let’s discuss the actual weather. We currently experience a very extreme situation. Cold air could arrive in Italy unexpectedly, as “extremely favorable climate behavior indices” suggest.

However,well-known meteorological and scientific factors affect Southern Europe,particularly the Mediterranean region and Italy. The unusually northerly position of the tropical line, shifting northward due to climate change, hinders the cold flow.

The current situation could change suddenly. north America experienced furious cold waves reaching the Gulf of mexico, such as. These are continental areas where cold air can temporarily overcome warm air, tho extreme heat waves follow. These weather events occur not only in north America – less known to Europeans or Italians – but also in various parts of Asia, China, and Japan, and in the Southern hemisphere.

Europe faces complex atmospheric conditions. Scientists strive to identify and understand mechanisms preventing extreme cold weather events, which would be normal given the phenomenon of Arctic Amplification.

The concept of climate sensitivity and the greenhouse effect isn’t new; scientist svante Arrhenius intuited it in the late nineteenth century, but researchers studied the specific phenomenon in depth during the 1960s. today,we discuss Arctic Amplification frequently to explain extreme weather,especially in winter. While less discussed during the summer, this phenomenon strongly influences those months and all contexts where heat waves occur. It remains a technical topic, often associated with winter, but it impacts all seasons.

Arctic Amplification drives terrifying heat waves and creates conditions for them to develop.