Deluge in Italy sets European record: 29 inches in 12 hours

Photo Caption: A bridge in Quiliano, near Savona in Northern Italy, collapsed after heavy rains in the region on Oct. 4. (Tano Pecoraro/LaPresse/AP)

Climate Signals summary: Human-caused climate change has enhanced extreme precipitation events all around the world this year. The latest deluge in Italy broke an all-time European rainfall record.

Article excerpt: In just 12 hours, 29.2 inches of rain fell in Rossiglione in Italy’s Genoa province, roughly 65 miles south-southwest of Milan and 10 miles north of the Mediterranean coastline. It marked the greatest 12-hour rainfall on record in Europe, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist who specializes in world weather extremes.

The exceptional rainfall came from a stormy zone of low pressure that approached from the southwest off the Mediterranean Sea. The counterclockwise circulation around the slow-moving low drew moisture-rich air into northwestern Italy. Computer models showed exceptional moisture levels, up to 250 percent of normal.

Scientists have found that human-caused climate change and the resulting rising temperatures are intensifying heavy downpours. Numerous exceptional precipitation events occurred this summer, including historic flooding in China, Central Europe and the northeastern United States during Ida.

You can find the full story by Jason Samenow here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/10/05/italy-record-rainfall-/