A wave of bad weather hit the Friuli-Venezia Giulia: to Cormons, in the province of Gorizia, a landslide swept away three houses in the early hours of yesterday 17 November, causing the death of two people. Heavy rainfall dumped on the area approx 300 mm of rain in a short time: the cause of the bad weather can be attributed to a cold front associated with a pocket of air coming from Scandinavia.
Also in the Gorizia area, the rainfall caused the Torre river to flood, leaving around 300 displaced people, while in the province of Udine the greatest damage was recorded in the municipalities of Palmanova, Trivignano Udinese and Manzano. After what happened yesterday, the Civil Protection has issued an orange level weather alert for Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with possible hydrogeological and hydraulic criticalities.
According to forecasts, the instability will continue until Friday, when early snowfall will be possible in the Alps, even below 800 metres.
What happened with the landslide in Cormons and the flooding in Versa: the situation
The greatest damage was recorded in the province of Gorizia: in Cormons, one landslide of debris and mud, triggered by the intense rains, overwhelmed three homes around five in the morning yesterday, November 17th. This morning the death of was confirmed Quirin Kuhnert32 years old, and of Guerrina Skocaj, 83 years old, overwhelmed by rubble.
From a meteorological point of view, it hit the Cormons area a flash flood which dumped around 300 millimeters of rain in a short time, an exceptional situation not foreseen by the authorities, who in fact had only issued a yellow alert due to bad weather.
Always staying in the Gorizia area, a Pourfraction of Romans d’IsonzoAnd the Torre river flooded: 300 people were evacuated after their homes were overwhelmed by water. Rescuers intervened with rubber dinghies and helicopters to rescue some inhabitants who had taken refuge on the roofs.
In reality, the damage from the bad weather was not limited to the province of Gorizia: Udine was also affected by the effects of the bad weather, especially as regards the municipalities of Palmanova, Trivignano Udinese and Manzano, where the firefighters completed dozens of interventions to rescue people stuck inside their cars or in their homes, surprised by high water.
Looking at the rest of Italy, due to bad weather a retaining wall collapsed in Genoa, while in Versilia – where 73 mm of rain fell in an hour – a landslide hit a house in the municipality of Pietrasanta.
What caused the bad weather in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
But what caused these such violent rainfall on Friuli-Venezia Giulia? The cause can be attributed to a cold front associated with one sagging of air coming from Scandinavia, which first extended over central-western Europe and then reached the Alpine arc. The entry of these currents onto the Mediterranean they then stimulated the formation of a cyclonic vortex, which then caused intense rainfall.
For today, Tuesday 18 November, the bad weather will also reach the central-southern regions with showers and thunderstorms, even strong intensity. In this case, the cause will be attributed to a low pressure vortex near Sardinia, resulting from the arrival of colder air from Northern Europe: the cold air will reach a good part of the Peninsula and, according to forecasts, there could be some early snowfalls.
In particular, snow is expected on Thursday 20 November Alps between 700 and 1,000 meters, while in the Apennines we will go above 1,800 metres. Instability will continue across much of Italy until Friday, with heavy rain expected in Emilia-Romagna and snow come on 400-800 meters.
