Over the past week, temperatures across the Balkans have swung sharply, with an unusual gap between daytime highs and nighttime lows — a pattern known as the diurnal temperature range.
A high-pressure area has covered the region, delivering prolonged sunshine by day, while clear skies at night allow temperatures to fall rapidly as heat escapes into the atmosphere without clouds to slow the cooling.
In Kosanica, Montenegro, the average October high is 15°C (59°F), while the average low is 4°C. Yet on October 4 and 5, the gap between daytime and nighttime temperatures reached 30°C — more than double the October average.
Elsewhere in Europe, high pressure will strengthen over northern and western areas in the coming week, pushing a low-pressure system toward the southern Mediterranean. That low will deepen as it crosses the Adriatic and Ionian seas before moving east into the Aegean Sea by midweek.
As a result, heavy rain and strong winds are expected to sweep across Greece. Forecast models indicate widespread rainfall of 50–150mm, with the highest totals expected around the island of Skiathos.
By the weekend, the system will continue moving east, bringing showers to parts of Crete, which suffered severe flooding a week earlier. Those storms swept vehicles and trees out to sea.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 storm, is tracking near Mexico's Pacific coast, close to the state of Jalisco. It is the latest of 21 named storms in the Pacific this season, 11 of which have reached hurricane strength.
At the time of writing, Simon had a central pressure of 933mb and maximum sustained winds of nearly 150mph (241km/h). The storm is expected to weaken rapidly, however, if its core moves inland, cutting it off from the warm ocean waters that fuel it.
Heavy rain is affecting southwestern Mexico, where totals could reach 300–400mm over a broad area, rising to 400–500mm in the wettest spots.
