Staggering amounts of rain fell in northern Italy on 04 October 2021, causing floods and landslides in Liguria and Piedmont Regions. Liguria's environment agency reported a record 181 mm of rainfall in just 1 hour and over 900 mm in 24 hours.

Severe weather was reported across northern and central areas of Italy on 04 October. Red Alerts (highest level) were issued for the regions of Liguria, Piedmont and Lombardy.

The worst of the flooding struck in Liguria Region and in particular the province and city of Savona. In a statement during the evening of 04 October, President of Liguria Giovanni Toti, said "At the moment almost all emergency situations are concentrated in the Savona area, in the Bormida valley and in the hinterland of Genoa in the Stura valley."

The president said the situation was critical and could worsen, especially given the extreme levels of rainfall. As much as 604 mm of rain fell in 12 hours in Rossiglione and 540 mm in 12 hours in Savona, Toti said.

The region's environment agency, Agenzia Regionale Protezione Ambiente Ligure (ARPAL) reported 1 hour rainfall totals of 145.2 mm in Cairo Montenotte, 178.2 mm in Urbe and 181 mm in Vicomorasso, which is a new national record. Furthermore figures from ARPAL show the station at Rossiglione recorded more than 900 mm of rain in 24 hours.

© ARPAL
Over 900 mm of rain fell in Rossiglione, Liguria, Italy in 24 hours

Several rivers broke their banks in the region. The Erro flooded areas of Pontinvrea; the Bormida river overflowed in Cairo Montenotte; and the Letimbro caused flooding in the city of Savona.

An autumnal survey of who's got early snow is somewhere between a trope and a cliché in these pages. Consider, for example, "Early Season at Hatcher Pass: A Photo Essay," "Early-Season Snow: A Photo Roundup," or "Alaskans Revel in October Skiing at Hatcher Pass, Birch Hill" (with photos). You may sense a theme here.

But the earliest on-snow dates in these articles are October 6, October 14, and October 15. How would you like to read that same article, but set in - *record scratch* - September?

All of which is to say, it snowed in Anchorage over the weekend. A lot. Like, up 16 to 20 inches a lot. Like, knee-deep on Reese Hanneman a lot. As the local National Weather Service office explained, "moisture from [Cook Inlet and the] Gulf of Alaska was pushed against the Chugach Mountains in what is called upslope flow. The cooling of the air as it moves up the terrain, combined with a steady influx of moisture and upper level support, created the large spread in snow totals over the eastern side of town and into the Chugach Front Range."