Bad weather in Lombardy, in July hail up to 10 cm in diameter and over 150 thousand lightning strikes – Libero Quotidiano

2023-08-02 19:00:00

Milan, 2 Aug. (time.news) – More than 150,000 lightning strikes were recorded in Lombardy in July 2023, almost 30,000 in each of the single days of 12, 21 and 24 July. All the provinces have recorded disastrous hailstorms with ‘grains’ up to 10 centimeters in diameter, abundant rainfall and violent gusts of wind which have imposed an exceptional and very important job on the Civil Protection. These are some of the data contained in the report produced by Arpa Lombardia, which explains which conditions have led to such intense storm phases. The document offers a detailed meteorological report complete with graphs, data and calculations obtained from the Arpa Lombardia hydrometeorological and radarmeteorological monitoring network.

“The Arpa report – says Romano La Russa, regional councilor for safety and civil protection – certifies what is now there for all to see: the increasingly frequent occurrence of particularly intense and sometimes violent atmospheric events, with all what follows in terms of damage on the territory.Following the severe bad weather, since the first days of July, the regional civil protection system has promptly activated to deal with the events with all the resources available in order to overcome the emergency and support the affected population”.

“The main reasons for such strong and extensive thunderstorms – explains Fabio Carella, general manager of Arpa Lombardia – are linked to the expansion towards the Mediterranean on several occasions of a very warm air mass of North African origin, which over Northern Italy found to be dominated by cooler winds descending from the North Atlantic.There are mainly three storm phases that have been identified.The first from 3 to 6 July, the second from 12 to 14 and the third (the most intense) from 18 to July 25. This is the result of the regional meteorological service created and constantly updated thanks to the professional and instrumental resources of the Agency which brings valid and effective results”.

Among the most emblematic events, on 19 July hailstones with a diameter greater than 8-10 cm hit the Brescia and Mantua areas, on 21 July a tornado affected the Milan area between Cernusco sul Naviglio and Gessate, on Friday 25 July gusts of winds exceeding 100 km/h swept almost the entire plain from Milan to Brescia, while in the same hours hail hit the province of Cremona hard. The meteorological forecasting activity of Arpa Lombardia led to a frequent activation of yellow and orange alerts (maximum level of criticality for the risk of thunderstorms) by the regional Civil Protection throughout the month of July.