An intense heatwave will persist and expand across Romania through Thursday morning, August 6, with the highest red-level warning extended to seven western and northwestern counties and temperatures expected to reach 41°C. The rest of the country will be under orange and yellow heat alerts, according to updated warnings issued by the National Meteorological Administration (ANM).
On Tuesday, August 4, a red alert is in force for Satu Mare, Bihor, Arad, and Timiș counties, where temperatures will reach 38-40°C. Meteorologists said the extreme temperatures will be comparable to absolute records for August, while nighttime lows could remain as high as 24-26°C.
An orange alert covers Maramureș, southern Banat, most of Transylvania, northeastern Moldova, and southwestern Oltenia, with highs of 35-39°C. The rest of much of the country, including Muntenia, Dobrogea, most of Moldova, and Oltenia and eastern and southeastern Transylvania, is under a yellow alert, with temperatures generally reaching 31-38°C.
Photo: Meteoromania.ro
The heatwave will intensify further on Wednesday, August 5, when the red alert will expand to Maramureș, Satu Mare, Sălaj, Bihor, Arad, Timiș, and Caraș-Severin counties. Temperatures there will reach 37-39°C in Maramureș, Satu Mare, and Sălaj and 39-41°C in Bihor, Arad, Timiș, and Caraș-Severin.
Meanwhile, Moldova, Oltenia, most of Transylvania, and southwestern and central Muntenia, including Bucharest, will be under an orange alert on Wednesday, with highs of 35-38°C. A yellow warning will cover Dobrogea, northern and eastern Muntenia, and eastern Transylvania, where temperatures will reach up to 36-37°C.
Photo: Meteoromania.ro
Thermal discomfort will be high to extreme across large parts of the country, with the temperature-humidity index reaching or exceeding the critical threshold of 80. Tropical nights, with minimum temperatures of 20-26°C, are expected across most regions.
ANM said the heatwave would remain persistent and intensify across all regions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It is expected to weaken on Friday, August 7, and gradually retreat towards the southern half of the country.
Periods of atmospheric instability are also forecast. Torrential rain, thunderstorms, strong winds, squalls, and isolated hail are expected particularly in the Eastern Carpathians on Tuesday and Wednesday, across much of the mountain area on Thursday, and in northern Romania on Friday. Rainfall amounts could reach 10-25 liters per square meter over short periods of one to three hours.
The broader weather advisory covering the heatwave and atmospheric instability remains in effect until the morning of August 8, while ANM said it would update the warnings depending on the evolution and intensity of the weather.
irina.marica@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Lcva/Dreamstime.com)
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