Ferragosto still scorching hot but from Monday the temperatures will drop

A scorching August 15th across much of Italy, but temperatures will begin to drop starting Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health's latest heatwave bulletin, the highest level 3 alert, expected today in 22 of the monitored cities, will affect 21 tomorrow and 16 on Friday.

Therefore, on August 15th, "red dot" will be applied to Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Genoa, Latina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona, and Viterbo.

On Friday, this list will no longer include Genoa, Milan, Rieti, Turin, and Viterbo. Temperatures, especially the perceived temperatures, will be above seasonal averages: tomorrow, highs of 40 degrees are expected in Latina and 39 degrees in Frosinone and Naples; on Friday, 40 degrees in Latina and 39 degrees in Naples.

But the end of the stifling heat wave is near: after mid-August temperatures drop

How many times in the last few days, in the last few weeks, have we asked ourselves 'When will this stifling heat end?

In the next few hours we will still have the heat wave of Charon, which began a month ago, on July 15: the African anticyclone, with its Dantesque name, is monopolizing the weather with one of the longest heat waves in recent Italian history, if not the longest (we'll see when it ends).

The maximum temperatures, even on the afternoon of August 14, will reach 39°C in Foggia and Syracuse, 38°C in Bari, Catania, Ferrara, Forlì, Lecce, Taranto and Terni. We will have 37°C in Bologna and Florence with the African heat spreading from north to south and with maximum peaks in Sardinia and Sicily up to 41°C in the internal areas.

A still scorching August Eve but with a few more thunderstorms on the plains of the North-West: not only heat thunderstorms on the Alps and the Apennines, confined to the hottest hours of the day, but also a few showers on the plains of Piedmont and Lombardy.

Ferragosto, then, will still be hot but with some news: a core of 'less hot' air at high altitude will move from the Balearics towards Sardinia bringing, from the morning, showers to the island; gradually this 'core of Balearic instability' will move towards the east causing an increase in clouds on the Tyrrhenian side and in the North-West where isolated brief showers are not excluded.

The heat peaks will still be high, up to 37-38°C widespread. The end date of the African heat of Charon will be Sunday 18 August, with a call 90% reliability: a drop of up to 10 degrees is expected in some areas of the Center-North, but all of Italy will be affected by the passage of the Balearic core of instability; there will also be strong thunderstorms over the weekend, with details expected in the next updates.

In the meantime, we need to grit our teeth until Saturday, then temperatures will gradually drop (already partly in the North between Friday and Saturday) in a widespread manner from Sunday 18 August throughout the country.

Finally, after 33 days, Charon will give way to more acceptable thermal conditions, no more scorching 41°, no more super tropical, sleepless and sticky nights.

Going into detail, today, August 14th, afternoon showers in the North along the Alpine arc and on the adjacent plains; scorching heat elsewhere, inland afternoon thunderstorms in the Center, scorching heat elsewhere, and in the South all sunshine and extreme heat.

Tomorrow, August 15th, afternoon showers in the North over the Alps and some more clouds; warm weather. In the Central region, afternoon thunderstorms inland with some more clouds, especially in Sardinia and the Tyrrhenian coast; warm weather. In the South, sunshine with some haze, extreme heat.

Friday, August 16th, afternoon showers in the North over the Alps and some additional clouds; afternoon thunderstorms inland in the Central region; sunny elsewhere; warm, sunny weather and extreme heat in the South. The trend indicates the end of the African heat this weekend, possibly with strong thunderstorms.