“Hail, Caesar!” — Severe Storms Hit Rome — Heavy Snow in Abruzzo
An area of low pressure moving south from northern Europe has brought an abrupt end to Italy’s Indian summer, with temperatures dropping by as much as 10C in a matter of hours.
Torrential rain and monster hailstones led to commuter chaos, causing some motorists to abandon their semi-submerged cars on flooded roads.
Major hailstorm in Rome, Italy tonight, Oct 21! Bad idea to drive in this. Report: Arianna Sasso pic.twitter.com/ZOMLWXe6fA
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) October 21, 2018
Rome’s public transport provider ATAC has closed four metro stations due to flooding.
The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, announced that emergency teams were working throughout the night to “restore the situation to normal as quickly as possible.”
Major hailstorm runoff going underground. Ever seen or experienced anything like this? Rome, Italy yesterday, October 21. Report: Meteo Lazio pic.twitter.com/eoWmDGrqDZ
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) October 22, 2018
Central Italy also saw large snow accumulations at 1450m elevations.
Severe Weather EU posted a tweet showing difficult driving conditions in the Abruzzo region:
Strong snowfall at Prati di Tivo (TE), Abruzzo, central Italy at 1450 m elevation. Today, October 22. Report: Rete8 pic.twitter.com/yrVDRshgqv
— severe-weather.EU (@severeweatherEU) October 22, 2018
GSM = atmospheric compression events