During one 12-hour period, storms over Italy dropped nearly 29 inches of rainfall earlier in the week. A series of storms has parked over northwestern Italy, unleashing rainfall that has never been seen before in all of Europe.
In the town of Cairo Montenotte, which is about 20 miles west of Rossiglione, the weather record for the area was set by a 6-hour downpour that brought in over 36 inches of rainfall.
The storms over Italy's Liguria region brought winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. The heavy rain caused local rivers to overflow, flooding surrounding neighborhoods. The town of Vicomorasso in Italy was hit by a massive flood after a downpour of over 7 inches of rainfall.
Milan news outlet Corriere Della Sera said a bridge had collapsed in the town of Quiliano. Dozens of people had to be rescued as mudslides and floods destroyed and submerged their homes.
Weather experts said the latest storm had set a new European record for the highest 12-hour rainfall in its history. The rainfall in Cairo Montenotte also set a new national 6-hour record for all of Italy.
Apart from Italy, Cyclone Shaheen made landfall in far northern Oman with winds just shy of a Category 1 hurricane. The storm, which hit the typically dry city of Al Khaburah in Oman, left the area with up to 14 inches of rainfall. The amount of rain that dropped in the area is equivalent to more than 3 years' worth of rainfall in just 24 hours.
Oman's Meteorological Department said the rain that fell exceeded what is typically experienced in the region for the entire year.
The abnormal amount of rain and storms observed in Italy and Oman has been attributed by some scientists to the rise in global temperatures. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change said the rising temperatures have caused extreme precipitation events, resulting in heavy rainstorms. The panel estimated in a recent report that for every 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures, the atmosphere will retain around 7% more water vapor.
In recent months, some of the extreme weather systems that had broken records include hurricane Ida and Henri in the U.S. Severe weather in Belgium and Germany also set new records earlier this year. In China, heavy rainfall flooded major cities, including the provincial capital city of Zhengzhou.
