Heavy rain and strong winds, not Storm Ashley though

Romania will be hit by heavy rains and intense wind during the weekend, especially in the south and in the Southern Carpathians, where more than 80 l/m2 of water can be collected. However, it is not about the Ashley storm, as it has been circulated so far, including in the international press. The executive director of the National Meteorological Administration (ANM), Florinela Georgescu, told Digi24.ro that “this cyclone has not yet formed”.

From Saturday night until Monday, it will rain in most of the country, and the most affected areas would be in the south and in the Southern and Curvature Carpathians. In these regions, the rains will bring large amounts of water, which could exceed 70-80 l/m2, isolated even more.

“In the early part of Saturday, the rains will make their presence felt in the western and northwestern regions of the country. Following that, gradually, by the evening, it will cover a large part of the western half of our country. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, during the day of Sunday and on the night of Sunday to Monday, it will rain in most of the country, and the most affected regions, according to the materials we have at this time, will be those of the southern part of the territory, as well as in the Southern and Curvature Carpathians“, explained the executive director of ANM.

The rains will be accompanied by atmospheric instability, i.e. torrential precipitation and strong wind, especially in the east and south of the country, a consequence of the fact that they come after a period of very high temperatures, meteorologists announced. “In addition to quantitatively important precipitation, we also expect wind intensification these days. It is possible that it will be especially in the eastern and southern part of the territory and combined of course with the intense rains, will make the weather manifestations even more severe”, she added.

The storms are bearing down on Romania, shortly after Storm Boris caused damage in several European countries, including Romania, where seven people died.

A new storm of similar intensity, named Ashley, was rumored to be coming, but the forecast did not bear out the fears. “The name ‘Ashley’ is indeed included on a list of future severe storms, drawn up by the meteorological services in Western Europe, but this cyclone has not yet formed”, explained Florinela Georgescu.

She mentioned that meteorological services in Europe draw up a list of names in advance for storms that meet strict criteria, such as strong intensification of winds, leading to gusts of more than 150 km/h and massive amounts of precipitation, which can cause flooding.

“So far, none of the recent storms have met these conditions to be named Ashley,” the executive director of ANM, told Digi24.ro.

“So, when such a cyclone develops, it will be named Ashley. For the time being, none of the cyclones that developed in the area of ​​the British archipelago have met the criteria to be given this name”, Florinela Georgescu said.