A storm cloud at sea. Credit: Zsolt Biczó

Severe convective storm over the Mediterranean Sea

4 October 2005 11:00 UTC

Region

Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia

Satellites

Meteosat-8, Meteosat-6

Channels/Products

IR10.8

Genoa Low and severe convective storm over the Mediterranean Sea in October 2005.

Last Updated

24 May 2022

Published on

04 October 2005

By Livia Briese and Jochen Kerkmann (EUMETSAT)

The Meteosat-8 images and animations below provide an interesting insight into the development of severe weather experienced in Italy and over the Mediterranean Sea. They show the development of a big 'Genoa Low', a cyclone that brought heavy rain and subsequent floods to Italy, including 'acqua alta' in Venice, during 2–4 October 2005.

They also show the formation of a large convective system over the Mediterranean Sea, to the south-east of Sicily. This impressive, long-living storm developed underneath the jet streak (see airmass RGB composite) following a low-level convergence line, which is clearly visible in the HRV image.

At 11:00 UTC, it is fully developed and well organised with a clear separation of the inflow/updraft area from the downdraft area and a marked U or V shape. Later on, during the afternoon, it moved away from the jet streak and probably reached the end of the convergence line which led to the rapid decay of the storm.