Sicily Tornadoes
Encyclopedia
The Sicily tornadoes were two tornado
es that swept the Marsala
countryside in western Sicily
, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
(now Italy
) in early December (possibly late November) 1851.
The total number of victim is unknown, but assessed at over 500. It is one of the 10 deadliest tornado ever, achieving the highest death toll for a tornado event in continental Europe
and the second in European history after the Valletta, Malta Tornado.
Tornadoes are an extremely rare occurrence in Italy, sometimes happening on local scale but rarely causing relevant damage.
Sicily tornadoes are the oldest documented occurrence of the phenomena on Italian ground. While the event is documented in many official sources, such as church registers and community archives, there are few reports from local witnesses.
December 20, 1851 Illustrated London News
published a report dating back to December 8 submitted by local sources in Malta
, describing the path of two large waterspout
s that crossed Sicilian plains from Marsala
to Castellamare del Golfo, moving north-eastbound and evolving in a supercell
of two full-blown tornadoes less than 500 meters apart.
Along their path, heavy rain
and hail
storms caused additional damage to farmlands.
The most stricken area was Castellamare, where half the town was destroyed and about 200 citizens perished. City harbor sustained serious damage, with lot of vessels destroyed or capsized and many crews lost at sea.
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es that swept the Marsala
Marsala
Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island...
countryside in western Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
(now Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) in early December (possibly late November) 1851.
The total number of victim is unknown, but assessed at over 500. It is one of the 10 deadliest tornado ever, achieving the highest death toll for a tornado event in continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the second in European history after the Valletta, Malta Tornado.
Tornadoes are an extremely rare occurrence in Italy, sometimes happening on local scale but rarely causing relevant damage.
Sicily tornadoes are the oldest documented occurrence of the phenomena on Italian ground. While the event is documented in many official sources, such as church registers and community archives, there are few reports from local witnesses.
December 20, 1851 Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...
published a report dating back to December 8 submitted by local sources in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, describing the path of two large waterspout
Waterspout
A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water. While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur...
s that crossed Sicilian plains from Marsala
Marsala
Marsala is a seaport city located in the Province of Trapani on the island of Sicily in Italy. The low coast on which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island...
to Castellamare del Golfo, moving north-eastbound and evolving in a supercell
Supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm that is characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, continuously-rotating updraft. For this reason, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms...
of two full-blown tornadoes less than 500 meters apart.
Along their path, heavy rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
and hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
storms caused additional damage to farmlands.
The most stricken area was Castellamare, where half the town was destroyed and about 200 citizens perished. City harbor sustained serious damage, with lot of vessels destroyed or capsized and many crews lost at sea.