Josh Romano

The winter of 2020/21 was overall very mild in Italy, similar to the winter of 1996/97 but this time, unlike the previous winters, the greatest positive anomalies were found in the south and in the major islands, especially in Sardinia. This has rarely happened in recent years, while it happened in the distant winter of 1996/97. January was a "normal" month compared to the averages, while December was moderately mild and very rainy. I talked about February, it had a wave of fast frost from 13 to 15 but overall it is one of the mildest in the historical series, especially in the south and in Sardinia.

February 2021 was very mild in Italy, except for a few days around 13/15. The overall anomaly should be at least 2 degrees above the 81/10 average.

The spring heat will be the protagonist in the coming days in Italy, with heat peaks above 20 degrees in Rome but a lot of mildness also in the Po valley, with a climate worthy of April

On Sunday 21 February a maximum temperature of 20 ° is expected in Rome, due to the North African anticyclonic dome

The cold wave that is drawing to a close was short but intense, especially in the Adriatic regions and in the upper Ionian Sea. But there have been sporadic and very light snowfalls even in some cities on the Tyrrhenian side, like mine :) In the coming days, however, a lasting anticyclonic dome of North African matrix will be established, with a substantially spring climate, especially in the western regions.

The expected cold wave in Italy has begun, probably the strongest in winter 2020/21. At this moment there are snowfalls on the Adriatic coast, still sporadic but which will be more intense tomorrow. On the Tyrrhenian regions the cold is drier but the temperatures are still quite low; tomorrow some snowflakes will also be possible in Rome and Naples, mostly in Florence, perhaps a slight snow accumulation is possible in Bari. The cold wave will end on Tuesday 16 February 2021.

Dear Irish forumists, I would like to ask you what are your weather periods from 2000 to today ... Italy, like the whole Mediterranean basin, is very affected by the warming in the hot semester. However,my favorite weather period is the solar year 2010 in spring and from september to december., which saw many interesting periods of cold and a lot of dynamism in Italy Another interesting period was 2005, from January to April and from october to december. Here are some months I enjoyed: December 2001: very cold and in some phases even snowy in peninsular Italy, similar to December 1980; January 2004: two very strong cold waves, alternating with milder phases; May 2004: an unusual May in Italy, rainy but above all cool, with late snowfalls in the Apennines March 2005: the beginning of the cold and snowy month November 2005: the first part of the month was dominated by fog, in the end it was very cold October 2007: an unusual cold spell in Italy in the early part of autumn December 2007: intense pre-Christmas cold wave December 2010: first exceptionally mild month, then an intense pre-Christmas cold wave March 2011: same situation as in March 2005 in the early days November 2013: final of the cold month July 2014: unusually dynamic month with little heat May 2016: start of the month similar to 2004 autumn 2017: an Italian autumn similar to the pre-90s, very old style February 2018: cold wave with snow in Rome and Naples January 2019: rather cold month, with snow in Campania between 4 and 5

The astronomical autumn (not the meteorological one) for me is the most emotionally important season, because we move away from the sultry and merciless heat of the summer and go towards the dynamism of the cold semester ... Unfortunately autumn in peninsular Italy has taken on different characteristics at least since 1999, in practice the summer has lengthened, "eating" part of the autumn season. Only sometimes did autumn in peninsular Italy have characteristics similar to the 1950s / 60s of the last century, for example in 2007 and 2010, to a lesser extent also in 2003,2005,2017; generally, in these cases also December showed interesting things for those who love the cold and snow.

Tomorrow the third cold wave of this winter will begin in Italy, on the whole quite mild but with some cold periods, as has often happened in recent decades. The regions most involved will be the Adriatic and Apennine ones but locally between tomorrow and Sunday it will be possible some short snowy episode also on the Tyrrhenian regions.

Models confirm the cold snap on Saturday. It will particularly affect the Adriatic regions, which have had a very mild winter so far and will be similar to the cold spells of January 2016 and January 2019.

From the night between Friday and Saturday, a relatively short but intense cold wave will begin in Italy, especially in the Adriatic and eastern regions.

We should also add February 2013, with the record of cold in the Pollino, a mountain range in southern Italy and later the snowfall in the north in the final days of the month. But January 2013 had been mild.

I provide some hints on some winters notable for mildness or cold in Italy from 2001 to today ... Winters notable for their mildness: -2006/07: three exceptionally mild months; -2019/20: similar to 2006/07 but more drought in many areas; -2013/14: very rainy winter in January, more anticyclonic in December but very mild, especially in February; -2015/16: very mild December and February, cold January from 15/16 but very mild in the first half. The months of February 2017, January 2018, February 2002, December 2004, December 2011 were also exceptionally mild. Cold winter periods: -February 2012, especially in the center and north; - February 2003, a very cold month especially in the Adriatic regions; -February 2005: cold and snowy month in many areas; -January 2017: cold and snowy month in the Adriatic and eastern regions; -December 2001: freezing month from the 9th, similar to December 1980; -February 2018: very cold from 13 to 28 but quite mild in the first part; - January 2010: cold month in northern Italy; -December 2010: cold in northern Italy and locally also in the central south in the days before Christmas; -December 2005: quite cold month everywhere; -December 2007: quite cold month in the Adriatic regions; -February 2009: cold month in the Adriatic regions, with a snowfall also in Palermo, in Sicily; - January 2004: month with very cold phases in the central south; -February 2004: month with an important snowfall in northern Italy.

Yesterday in the Crati valley, in inland Calabria, it exceeded 25 °, due to the foehn effect. Between today and tomorrow the spring heat wave will reach its peak, then on Monday the temperature will drop but will remain slightly above the average for the period in the southern and central regions. January 2021 instead closed at + 0.3 ° on the 81/10 average in Italy, it was a very rainy but thermally normal month.

Between Friday and Saturday, peaks of 25 ° will be possible in some areas of Sardinia and Sicily. In the following days, temperatures will drop but will remain mild or very mild; for now it looks like February 2014 or 2016 in Italy ...

The heat, as often happens in the current climate, will be the protagonist of the next few days in Italy, especially in the central south, with possible peaks of 20 ° even in large cities like Bari, Naples and perhaps Rome, especially from Friday 5 February.

A very strong heat wave is likely in the coming days in southern and central Italy. It could exceed 20 degrees in some cities, especially on the southern Tyrrhenian side; the records of February 2014 are at risk.

The night of January 27, 2021 was quite cold in most of Italy, with lows below zero even on the plains. Starting tomorrow, however, a significant rise in temperature begins.

An Atlantic phase is underway, with a very intense mild call, especially in the Adriatic and eastern regions. Next week there could be a brief and modest cold spell but, unlike in Spain, in Italy this is certainly not a cold January.

The cold is the protagonist these days in Italy, with snowfalls at even low hilly altitudes, especially in the Adriatic regions but also in southern Italy. The cold wave will wear off tomorrow.

Italy is a very long and heterogeneous country, made complicated by the orography but, wanting to identify the date which many absolute records of freezing date from 1947 (end of the Second World War), we could roughly say that many of them date back to February 1956 for the north and central Italy, while in the south they are divided between February 1956 and December 1980 (some local records date back to December 2010) and in the islands in many cases date back to January 1981. In cities like Florence and Rome there are various records dating back to January 1985.

The cold has arrived in central and southern Italy ... right now it is snowing in Cosenza, in internal Calabria, where a very low minimum is expected, probably around -7.

On Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 January 2021 there were peaks of heat in some regions of southern Italy, due to the sirocco. The 26/27 degrees reached in the Palermo area are remarkable. Meanwhile, the first cold weather from the northeast of this winter is expected.

While Madrid is buried in snow, Italy today begins a mild phase in the central and especially southern regions, which in the far south will result in temperatures locally above 20 °, in cities such as Lecce and Catania. Many ask me why the Spanish cold records are lower than the Italian ones, with the same latitude. It depends on two factors: Italy is narrower than Spain, so it has a greater maritime influence, which prevents extreme peaks of frost and favors moderate cold; moreover, many Spanish cities are built on plateaus, which is impossible in Italy, which has the Apennines (but also the eastern Alps) which are the most seismic areas in Europe, together with Greece. However, being Italy more eastern, the thermals at high altitude are generally lower than in Spain: in January 2004 and in December 2010 the -9 entered at 850 hpa up to Naples, the -11 in December 2014, the -10 in the January 2019.

At least for now, January continues as December did, with a clear prevalence of Atlantic currents. The climate remains rather mild in the Adriatic regions, while in the north next week there will be the possibility of new snowfall at low altitude. This winter recalls others dominated by Atlantic perturbations, such as 1975/76, 1981/82 and 2008/09 but it is milder than those.