The African anticyclone Hannibal is
set to bring the year's first real heatwave to Italy starting
this weekend and peaking Tuesday, forecasters said Friday.
Italy is already seeing temperatures eight degrees above the
seasonal average and the heat wave is set to bring peaks more
commonly seen in July, said Antonio Sanò, director and founder
of the website iLMeteo.it.
Sanò said the current Camel's Back African anticyclone, another
name for Hannibal, would be "reinforced across the central
Mediterranean and stretch north as far as Poland and Denmark".
Temperatures will reach well over 32-33°C, he said, especially
in northern Italy, but the heat will spread to the centre and
south over the weekend.
If it were August, with seas hot, this weather configuration
would spell temps of 37-39°C, said Sanò.
But at the moment temps are mitigated by the Mediterranean basin
still being relatively cool, around 20-22°C.
Brief moments of afternoon cool respite are forecast in the Alps
at the weekend, and locally in the Po Valley, with scattered
thunderstorms, as happens at the height of summer.
The heat wave will bring steamy and breathless 'afa' conditions
to most of the country.
Here is the forecast in detail:
- Friday 13: North: sunny and summery heart but with afternoon
thunderstorms in the Alps in the Triveneto. Centre: fine
weather, heat. South: clear or slightly cloudy.
- Saturday 14: North: early showers in the Triveneto and
Lombardy, improving from the afternoon on. Centre: fine, hot.
South: fine, hot.
- Sunday 15: North: sunny and summery heat, but with isolated
thunderstorms from the Alps to the adjacent plains, more likely
in the northwest. Centre: fine, hot, isolated showers on high
ground in Abruzzo. South: fine, hot.
- Trend: Domination of Anticyclone Hannibal, with African high
pressure bringing a further increase in temperatures with mainly
sunny conditions at least until the middle of next week.
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