Satellites tracked a rare Mediterranean hurricane, or “medical hurricane” named Daniel, as it circled over the Sahara desert, bringing devastating floods to Libya. The storm first formed over Greece on September 4, dumping 18 months of rain in parts of the country in just 24 hours, causing catastrophic flooding. Later, as he crossed the Mediterranean, Daniel gained strength in waters heated by months of record temperatures, resulting in a rare phenomenon called Medicane. Medicans are close to Atlantic hurricanes in intensity and sometimes even have a prominent eye in the center; Features of this can be noticed in satellite images of Daniel.

“Medical events like Storm Danielle are relatively rare and occur more frequently in the western Mediterranean than on the arid coast of Libya,” said Liz Stevens, professor of climate risk and resilience at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. expression. “It is more difficult to understand the potential for catastrophic extreme events in an arid climate where even moderate precipitation is rare.”

The unexpected visit of such a violent storm was devastating for Libya. Daniel reached peak intensity on Sunday, September 10, packing sustained winds of 44 to 50 miles per hour (70 to 80 km/h), setting a new daily national record of 16.3 inches, according to the Libyan National Meteorological Center. millimeter). According to information obtained, two dams near the city of Derna could not hold rainwater and collapsed, causing major floods. Thousands of people are believed to have died in the disaster, prompting Libyan authorities to declare a state of emergency.

European Earth observation satellite Sentinel-3 and geostationary weather satellite Meteosat 11 captured images showing the monster’s storm vortex over the distinctive orange desert surface.

Suzanne Gray, professor of meteorology at the University of Reading, said in a statement that the Mediterranean region usually produces only one to three Medicans each year. Paradoxically, there is evidence that these devastating storms will become less common as the climate gradually changes. However, those that do form are likely to grow more strongly than in colder climates.

“Climate change is thought to increase the intensity of the strongest storms, and we are confident that climate change is increasing the amount of precipitation associated with such storms,” Stevens added. “It would be interesting to evaluate whether the total rainfall in Eastern Libya would be physically unreasonable if there were no climate change. But this is a complex issue that must take into account changes in storm track as well as total precipitation.” Source