On the eve of a new summer, the weather seems to be stabilizing again. However, it is known that Spain is getting used to receiving large storms that cause significant complications due to heavy rains and winds. Ciarán, one of the most powerful extratropical cyclones in recent times, activated warnings throughout Spain, except in the Canary Islands.
This storm has not only affected the country, but has severely punished several areas of Europe. Converted into explosive cyclogenesis in the United Kingdom, it surpassed the typical effects of an autumn storm and left several records for wind gusts for the month of November, according to data from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET). “This is one of the deepest storms that have visited Western Europe in this 21st century,” said Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for the AEMET.
Juan Jesús González Alemán, doctor in Physics and researcher in atmospheric dynamics and modeling at the AEMET, already warned through his official X account that the Ciarán storm would be very intense: «It is not a hurricane, but its impact will be very similar. in terms of wind. And, in fact, the strong gusts of wind exceeded 150km/h in some specific parts of the territory, putting them on red alert.
The expert has explained in a thread on this social network that there are possibilities of a level 4 hurricane forming at the gates of Spain. «This is outrageous. Early November and the atmospheric/oceanic environment in the Northeast Atlantic would be able to support (theoretically) a hurricane of up to Category 3 or 4! “A very clear expansion of tropical conditions towards our regions.”
González Alemán uses a map to explain that “what this map tells us is the Maximum Potential Intensity, a magnitude that measures the maximum energy that a tropical cyclone could obtain from the atmosphere and the ocean. That is, the maximum intensity that a tropical cyclone could reach if it developed in the area.
He clarifies, however, that “this does not mean that a category 4 hurricane will form in the area.” “It means that, if a tropical cyclone forms, it could reach that category if the conditions are favorable (e.g. low shear, humid environment) to take advantage of that energy.”
The post first appeared on www.ideal.es
