Severe winds of hurricane strength have raked the northern Adriatic region ofItaly and Slovenia as a major Mediterranean storm sparred with cold air out ofcentral Europe.Weather observations taken at Trieste, Italy, showed many wind gusts of 75 toover 90 mph on Tuesday afternoon and evening, local time, with hurricane gustscontinuing into Wednesday.
AccuWeather.com Facebook Fan Andrea C. stated "Here in Trieste is very windywith [gusts] over 80 mph. A lot of People wounded by debris."Strong winds reaching at least 50 to 60 mph were also clocked near the coastelsewhere in far-northeastern Italy, neighboring Slovenia and into coastalCroatia.
Pressure pattern on March 1, 2011, duringsevere Bora winds along Adriatic shore.The eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea is notorious for its high winds, whichare known by the name Bora. The northeasterly Bora blows when cold highpressure pools over central and northern Europe, at the same time that muchlower pressure holds sway over the Mediterranean basin.
Trieste itself is well-acquainted with the Bora. An outburst of this wind in1956 was clocked at 125 knots, or about 145 mph.
Elsewhere, the same major storm poured more than 5 inches of rain over parts ofsouthern Italy as it chilled eastern peninsular areas with cold rain and snow.
Winds of hurricane strength blasted Monte Terminillo atop the Apennine Range.
Story by Jim Andrews, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist.
