High pressure returns: stable fine weather until Saturday

The last disturbance has moved away from Italy, making way for the return of high pressure. The Civil Protection Department has issued a new meteorological vigilance bulletin, forecasting stable and sunny weather for the next few days across much of the country, with rising temperatures especially in the Center-North.

The only note of disturbance comes from the South, where today and tomorrow northern winds will be strong, with storm gusts in the Ionian sectors and southern Apulia. Seas will be rough in the Ionian and very rough in the southern Adriatic and the Strait of Sicily. On Friday, isolated precipitation, including showers, is expected in central-southern Calabria and northeastern Sicily.

The change is due to the expansion of the Azores anticyclone over the central Mediterranean, which will protect Italy from the arrival of new disturbed systems at least until Saturday, when a new deterioration is possible.

Italy is emerging from a period of bad weather that primarily affected the southern regions. In recent days, a low-pressure area situated near Sardinia drew humid and unstable currents from the southwest, causing widespread rain, intense thunderstorms, and strong southerly winds over Puglia, Campania, and other areas of the South. The Civil Protection had issued yellow and orange alerts for hydrogeological risk.

This adverse weather situation is a typical autumn phenomenon, often caused by the clash between warm African air and cooler Atlantic or continental air. Atlantic disturbances, driven by westerly currents, can encounter the still-warm Mediterranean, loading up with moisture and triggering intense phenomena, especially in regions exposed to the southwest like Puglia.

The arrival of the Azores High, a semi-permanent high-pressure area over the Atlantic Ocean, marks a break in this cycle. Expanding towards the Mediterranean, the high-pressure system creates a barrier that blocks the passage of disturbances, ensuring atmospheric stability, clear skies, and mild temperatures. However, at the boundary between the stable anticyclonic air and the residual unstable currents in the South, strong winds and some wave motion may persist, as forecast for today and tomorrow.