More severe weather Thursday but Azores high pressure area to arrive Friday

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 19 - Italy will see more of a wave of severe weather with torrential rain and heavy snowfall Thursday but an anticyclone from the Azores will bring brighter and milder conditions starting Friday. Some 42 people were evacuated in Genoa Thursday after a sea wall collapsed due to very heavy rainfall. "Today will be the last day of severe weather, with heavy precipitation, including snow, and tomorrow, the Azores high pressure will move in, finally bringing a period of lasting stability," said Federico Brescia, meteorologist at iLMeteo.it. "Today," he emphasized, "the low-pressure front will bring widespread rain and localized thunderstorms, which will hit the Tyrrhenian coast, Liguria, and much of northern Italy with particular force. "Snowflakes will fall on the Alpine and pre-Alpine valley floors, with possible blankets of snow in cities like Aosta, Sondrio, Trento, and Bolzano, and down to the plains in the Cuneo, Asti, and Alessandria areas." "Across the Alpine region, above 1,500 meters, very heavy snowfall is expected, with peaks of 30-40 cm in 24 hours. "Starting tomorrow, Friday, February 20, we will see a clear and decisive improvement across almost the entire country. "Clouds will give way to increasingly large clearings, marking the end of this brief but bitterly unstable period. "Starting this weekend, at least five or six days of stable and largely sunny weather are expected." In detail: - Thursday the 19th. In the North: fast-moving bad weather, snow on the western hills, improving in the evening. In the Center: showers, especially in Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio. In the South: worsening in Campania. - Friday the 20th. In the North: sunny. In the Center: residual instability over the Adriatic Sea. In the South: scattered showers. - Saturday the 21st. In the North: partly cloudy. In the Center: clear. In the South: residual showers in the lower Tyrrhenian Sea. Outlook: Anticyclonic conditions, some cloud cover returning only over Liguria and the Tyrrhenian coast. (ANSA). Read article...

By ANSA