Medican Ianos hit Greece. Fallen trees, power cuts

Ianos hit western Greece on Friday. The element is accompanied by heavy rains and a gusty wind that knocks down the trees. The Medican caused power outages in Kefalonia, Zakynthos and some regions of the Peloponnese peninsula. Ianos will move to other parts of the country. Flash floods and landslides are possible.

Fallen trees, flooded houses

The Greek fire department said it had received more than 600 calls for help to clear fallen trees and pump water out of flooded homes and shops. Sailing ships sank in the port of Kefalonia and Lefkada. The Greek Civil Protection Agency introduced a state of emergency on three islands: Kefalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos.

Medican Ianos is expected to stay in western Greece for the next six to nine hours, according to forecasts. As Greek government representative Nikos Chardalias, quoted by the media there, said, the element will then begin to weaken and move southwards over the Peloponnese.

– We have a whole day ahead of us with the phenomena affecting the vast region of the Peloponnese – he noted.

At the same time, the warm air mass left over from the Medican is expected to move to the northeast, where it will merge with the air stream flowing in from the northwest. This will cause thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the central and eastern parts of the country.

“Has strong rain potential”

Meteorologists warn of heavy downpours with very high rainfall in the regions of Magnesia, Boeotia, Phthiotis, the northern part of Evia Island and the city of Karditsa. Chardalias reported that Corinth and Attica would be severely affected on Saturday.

– This medican has a strong rain potential. The downpours are dangerous because they bring strong landslides – Arleta Unton-Pyziołek said on Thursday. Life-threatening flash floods may occur.

There are also very strong gusts of wind when passing the element. Gusts of 111 kilometers per hour were recorded in Cephalonia and Zakynthos on Friday.

Red alerts

Almost the entire country is covered by weather warnings. The Greek National Meteorological Service issued third-highest level warnings against high winds, downpours and storms for the southern and central regions.

What is a medikan?

The Medicans are deep lows that mostly form over the Ionian Sea and the Balearic Islands. They are formed as a result of the influx of polar, cool air over heated sea waters. Medicans, like hurricanes, thrive over hot, summer-hot waters. In the center of the Ianos lowlands, also known as Udine or Cassilda, there were 993 hectopascals on Thursday afternoon.

The word “medikan” does not exist in Polish and has no equivalent. It is an abbreviation that was created from the combination of the English words: mediterranean tropical-like cyclone, which literally means a Mediterranean quasi-tropical cyclone.

Such phenomena usually form between September and January. It is estimated that they can achieve the maximum force equal to a Category 1 hurricane on a five-point ascending Saffir-Simpson scale. They last from 12 hours to several days.

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