Italy has entered the heart of the most intense winter weather phase of this season due to an outbreak of polar air which has already made its entry from the east since yesterday, from the Porta della Bora: if in the North the skies are clear with a biting Tramontana, in the Centre-South a disturbance is causing bad weather and snowfall at very low altitudes even in the southern regions. Due to strong winds some locations may experience American blizzards of snowstorms.
Today’s weather
“January 20, 2024 is the coldest day of the winter so far. A decidedly polar phase begins with the irruption of cold air towards the whole country, this time also in the South”, explained Mattia Gussoni, an expert on Ilmeteo.it. This morning the town of Sesto Pusteria, in Alto Adige, woke up with -21°C e Brunico stopped at -18°C: in Basilicata, however, schools remained closed as a precaution due to snowfall at low altitudes. The most complicated day will be today with a lot of snow and “moments of storm due to the very strong wind that will sweep across the whole of the Centre-South”, explains Gussoni, with the white lady which will fall from altitudes close to the plains in Abruzzo and Molise up to altitudes hills in Puglia and Sicily.
It will be the coldest day of the winter because the thermal collapse it will be generalized with values even 10-15°C lower than the anomalous maximums recorded in the South and over Sicily in recent days. Sunny weather in the North with a gradual attenuation of the wind but with low daytime values while at night it will drop everywhere below zero.
Sunday’s weather
As said several times, however, it will be a “hit and run” given that already tomorrow, Sunday 21 January, “it will all be over: the bad weather will stop and we will have a general improvement”. Only the minimum temperatures will be well below zero to remind us of the passage of the Arctic air but also in the South and over Sicily the disturbance will leave room for large clearings and generated sunny moments. The frosts However, they will remain night-time for the first two days of next week, even in the plains, both in the North and in the South.
The trend: the turnaround is coming
However, another stop to winter is confirmed due to a strong area of high pressure of African origin which will bring about a new condition of anomalous heat “with temperatures 10°C above averageespecially along the coasts, in the mountains and in the Centre-South”. For the second time in the space of a week the thermal swing will bring highs over 20°C especially in the South and Sicily, values absolutely not in line with the coldest days of the year even in those areas.