The latest round of bad weather hits Sardinia, with snow at high altitudes.
The only ski lift on the Gennargentu remains closed, but after a hint of spring atop the island's highest mountain range , some are once again breaking out their snowshoes and sleds for the last weekend of this long winter season, which began in November with white flakes in Gallura.
On the highest mountains in the Nuoro area, after three days of precipitation, at least 10 centimeters of snow have fallen. The landscape is similar to that of January and February, with temperatures continuing to remain below freezing, albeit slightly rising. In 2024, late snow also fell on April 25th, and April 2003 also saw a historic cold snap, similar to that of 1991, which brought further white flakes to the island.
This year, "we're seeing heavy rains in the plains, capable of swelling rivers," explains Lorenzo Tedici, media meteorologist at iLMeteo.it, " unseasonable snowfall in the mountains, and abnormal temperatures, with temperatures up to 5-7°C below the seasonal average. And while the Northwest is starting to see widespread clearings, the rest of Italy will remain gray and swept by strong winds, with some precipitation also expected in eastern Sardinia."
But weather models are starting to sense a significant change starting Friday, when the weather will gradually become drier, even across the half of Italy currently battered by severe weather. In a few more hours, the Azores anticyclone will begin to make its presence felt, exploding by Easter Monday. The snow at high altitudes will begin to melt, and the cold will give way to summer. The long-sought "prey" will officially materialize on Saturday, in the form of an irresistible spring: plenty of sunshine, retreating winds, and highs rising sharply. But Easter Sunday will mark the pinnacle of this rediscovered spring. We'll witness a genuine escalation of good weather, with sunshine almost everywhere and thermometers poised to touch 25°C.
Good news for Cagliari, which, according to an analysis by iLMeteo.it, despite being a generally dry city , experienced a rainy Easter in 35% of cases due to clashes between different air masses and with winds blowing in 55% of cases, with gusts sometimes reaching 100 km/h.
(Unioneonline/D)