The province of Valencia is submerged: when the “V” of the storm turns into tragedy, the story of scientist Serena Giacomin

How do storms like the one that hit and flooded the province of Valencia form? What are the causes of these extreme events that seem to repeat themselves with ever greater frequency and intensity? To better understand the tragedy that struck the area that also hosts the European Green Capital 2024we interviewed Serena Giacominphysicist and science communicator, who offered us a detailed explanation of the phenomenon.

“In this context where disturbances tend to increase in intensity, a V-shape storm formed in Valencia. It is called that precisely because it has a characteristic ‘V’ shape when we go to observe it from satellite,” explains Giacomin.

But what makes this type of storm so dangerous? “It is a storm that has been self-healing and stationary“, continues Giacomin. “These are two fundamental elements to then understand the intensity with which this phenomenon has dumped enormous quantities of rain on the ground. The fact that it is self-regenerating gives this storm the ability to continuously regenerate and therefore to . The fact that it is stationary means that the rain always falls on the same portion of territory and therefore this rain accumulates in a dangerous way“.

The data on rain accumulation are impressive: “There was almost 350 mm of rain in 4 hours in the hinterland near Valencia and, let’s say that within 8-10 hours, a quantity of rain accumulated that generally falls in these areas within a year”.

Giacomin helps us to frame the meteorological context in which the event occurred: “Starting from the general atmospheric situation on the European continent and above all on the area of Mediterraneanwhat we are going to observe is the presence of this low pressure areaso we really have to imagine this disturbed area located on the Iberian peninsula with a prevailing anti-clockwise flow, within which there are various intense, if not downright violent, phenomena so much so that in Spain at the moment there is still an alert in force“.

“Always in the context of the Mediterranean we observe further east, therefore the central Mediterranean and also Italy towards central Europe, the strengthening not only of high pressure, therefore we can talk about an anticyclonebut also the rise of warm subtropical air, therefore particularly hot air just to the east compared to the disturbed air on the Iberian peninsula that we were talking about”.

This element, explains Giacomin, is crucial for understanding the increase in energy at play: “The fact of having a particularly warm air mass that has risen over the central Mediterranean contributes increase the energy involved from an atmospheric point of view. Hotter equals more energy, therefore with potentially greater intensity in terms of atmospheric phenomena.”

Added to this are the anomalies in sea temperature: “We also have anomalies in terms of the surface temperature of the Mediterranean Sea, where about 1 or 2 degrees higher are recorded near the Iberian peninsula“.

Update on the situation

Meanwhile, the death toll from the flood continues to worsen. According to rescuers, at least 72 people have lost their lives due to the floods which particularly affected the province of Valencia. The damage to infrastructure is extensive and many areas remain isolated. The authorities continue to work tirelessly to bring relief to the affected populations and restore essential services. The meteorological situation remains critical. It’s not time to let your guard down.