Dangerous weather is expected in many areas of the country from tonight and for the next few days, with the possible occurrence of local flooding phenomena having put the Civil Protection mechanism on heightened alert.

The new bad weather called “Atena” will have a longer duration and its main feature will be severe storms.

Already, however, from tonight, high rainfall is expected mainly in the Ionian Sea, while Epirus, Western Sterea and Western Peloponnese will also be affected.

Also, tomorrow from the early morning hours until the afternoon, bad weather will affect Western and Central Macedonia, as well as Northern and Western Thessaly.

Earlier, the scientific risk assessment committee had met in view of the dangerous weather phenomena expected in the country.

As the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said, according to the EMF bulletin, “from tonight and for the next few days dangerous weather phenomena will occur in many areas of the country”, while noting that “this is not a summer instability, but an autumn system”.

“Practically this means that the bad weather will have a longer duration, so local flooding phenomena are not excluded,” he added.

It is noted that according to the Emergency Weather Bulletin, issued on Sunday and upgraded to an Emergency Weather Alert, the barometric low, which is causing the bad weather ATENA in the Central Mediterranean and moving east, is predicted to cause dangerous weather phenomena in our country from Monday evening until the afternoon hours of Wednesday with locally heavy rain and thunderstorms mainly in the western, central and northern mainland as well as on the islands of the northern and eastern Aegean. The phenomena will be accompanied by a high frequency of lightning, hail and strong gusty winds.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast:

1. From the evening of Monday (09-09-24) until the midday hours of Tuesday (10-09-24) on the Ionian Islands, Epirus, western Sterea and western Peloponnese. The phenomena at night until the morning hours of Tuesday (10-09-24) are expected to be particularly intense.
2. From the early morning of Tuesday (10-9-2024) until late afternoon in western Macedonia and Thessaly.
3. From midday on Tuesday (10-09-24) until midday on Wednesday (11-09-24) in central and eastern Macedonia and the Sporades.
4. From the evening of Tuesday (10-09-24) to the evening hours of Wednesday (11-09-24) in Thrace and the islands of the northern and eastern part of the Greek peninsula.

The role of the airbrush

The main reason for this change in weather is the change in atmospheric circulation over Europe and the position of the airlock over the Mediterranean which has contributed to the development of a barometric low over the region of Italy

According to the National Observatory of Athens, the airstream is a strong current of air at a height of about 10-11 kilometers above the earth’s surface, moving mainly from west to east, and its movement determines the formation and movement of barometric systems. The east-southeast movement of the barometric low from the region of Italy to the Southern Balkans and our country during Monday will result in a gradual change of weather from the west of our country with showers and thunderstorms.

Finally, it is noted that according to the five-tier classification of rainfall episodes (Regional Precipitation Index), which is applied by the METEO unit of the National Observatory of Athens, the rainfall episode is classified in Category 3 (Significant).

Sakis Arnaoutoglou’s posts about the bad weather – Winds of up to 9 Beaufort

“A little caution tonight and mainly during the night into Tuesday in western Greece as there are indications of a brief but significant strengthening of winds with intensities that may exceed 8-9 Beaufort!” wrote the ERT forecaster in his next post.