Cyclone Qendresa

Cyclone Qendresa, also known as Medicane Qendresa, was one of the most intense Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones on record, which struck Malta and the Italian island of Sicily in 2014. The storm formed on 5 November and rapidly intensified two days later, reaching peak intensity on 7 November, due to a cold-core low aloft. Qendresa directly hit Malta in the afternoon and then crossed the eastern coast of Sicily on 8 November. Later, the cyclone weakened significantly and dissipated over Crete on 11 November. Academic sources indicate that Qendresa transitioned into a subtropical cyclone, prior to reaching peak intensity. Qendresa caused three fatalities, and at least $250 million (2014 USD) in damages in Italy.

Meteorological history

A shortwave trough near the British Isles started to expand southwards to North Africa on 3 November, which caused Lake Maggiore in Italy to overflow. Although the Institute of Meteorology of the Free University of Berlin had assigned the name Qendresa to an expected low-pressure area developed within the trough on 4 November, it actually gave the name to two different systems on 5 November, resulting in Qendresa I to the south and Qendresa II to the north. On 6 November, the southern tip of Qendresa I started to develop a low-level circulation centre (LLCC) near Kerkennah Islands, and it is referred to simply as Qendresa later by most of the documents and reports. The trough also developed two upper-level circulation centres (ULCCs) on the same day— the one near the southeastern coast of France quickly dissipated, yet the one in Algeria moved to Tunisia and then entered the Strait of Sicily the next day, becoming a cut-off low from the trough.