Storm Charles reaches Italy after sweeping across Portugal, Spain, and France, bringing heavy rainfall, severe gales, and high hydrogeological risks to the peninsula.
The Atlantic depression was officially named on November 9 by the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera within the European storm-naming framework for weather systems capable of generating intense phenomena. The name Charles is not a journalistic invention, and the system is neither a hurricane nor a tropical cyclone, but rather an Atlantic depression associated with perturbed fronts and very moist air masses.
The core of the severe weather is set to impact northern regions and central Tyrrhenian areas heavily. The Civil Protection Department issued red alerts for hydrogeological risk across specific Tuscan basins, including the Serchio-Garfagnana-Lima, Lunigiana, and the Reno basin.
Orange alerts affect parts of Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, and remaining sectors of Tuscany, while yellow alerts involve Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Abruzzo, Molise, and Umbria. Thursday, November 12 marks the most critical phase, bringing showers and intense thunderstorms to Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, the Triveneto, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Marche, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, and parts of Calabria.
MeteoWeb said that Giulio Betti, a meteorologist and researcher at CNR-Lamma, explained that the tail of the disturbance brings heavy rainfall to northern Italy and peninsular Tyrrhenian regions. Betti stated to Adnkronos, “Dapprima colpirà la Spagna e il Portogallo con piogge estreme, forti venti anche a 100km orari e poi si sposterà verso la Francia.”
Geopop reported that cumulative rainfall totals could exceed 250 millimeters in saturated soils behind eastern Liguria and upper Tuscany, with 3B Meteo estimating local accumulations reaching 150 to 200 millimeters between eastern Liguria and upper Tuscany and higher peaks along the Apennine watershed.
Sustained southern winds will generate gales reaching 70 to 90 kilometers per hour, alongside coastal storm surges, rough seas with waves up to 3 meters on Friday, and rising water levels up to 110 centimeters in Venice, while snow levels on the Alps drop from initial elevations above 2,000 to 2,200 meters down to 1,400 to 1,600 meters on Friday morning with the influx of colder air.
Conditions gradually improve across the North and central zones by Saturday, November 14, with initial residual rain in Abruzzo and lower Lazio, as instability shifts toward the South and Sardinia with intermittent showers, while Sicily and Ionian sectors experience better conditions.
