Summary
Severe thunderstorms with heavy hail occurred in parts of North Africa and southern Europe this week, especially in Algeria, Tunisia, and central Italy. At the same time, the northeastern United States faced strong storms with large hailstones and several tornadoes.
Key Facts
- A low-pressure system over the Mediterranean caused thunderstorms in Algeria and Tunisia, producing hail up to 3cm in diameter.
- Hail sometimes accumulated on the ground enough to look like snow in places such as Oum Ladjoul (Algeria) and Ouled Bousmir (Tunisia).
- Another low-pressure area over Sicily brought severe rain and storms to parts of central Italy, including Ascoli Piceno and Mosciano Sant’Angelo.
- In the northeastern US, a supercell storm in Wisconsin caused a tornado warning and hailstones about 7cm wide (baseball-sized).
- Larger hail up to 11.5cm (softball-sized) was reported near Kansas City in following days.
- Around 20 tornadoes occurred across several US states including Wisconsin, Kansas, Iowa, and Minnesota during this storm period.
