Bologna, September 8, 2026 — Summer still has no intention of leaving the stage, but the sky is preparing for a change. After days still marked by high temperatures, Emilia-Romagna is preparing for a day of strong instability: tomorrow, Wednesday, September 9, intense thunderstorms will arrive, accompanied by gusts of wind and a decisive change of scenario. The regional Civil Protection alert signals critical conditions throughout the territory, with the highest level concentrated in the western sector.
What the alert for Wednesday, September 9 says
The meteorological-hydrogeological-hydraulic alert, valid from next midnight until Thursday 10, foresees thunderstorms of even strong intensity throughout Emilia-Romagna. The orange code for criticality related to thunderstorms concerns the mountain areas, the high and low hills, and the Piacenza-Parma plain, therefore the provinces of Piacenza and Parma. The yellow code for thunderstorms instead affects the remaining areas: mountain, high and low hills and Romagna plain, the Romagna coast, the mountain, hills and Bologna plain, then the coast and Ferrara plain, the central Emilia mountain and hills, the Modena plain, the Reggio plain and the Reggio Po plain.
The reason is linked to the possibility of widespread thunderstorm phenomena, especially in the western Emilian sectors, where strong gusts are also expected, particularly in the plain areas. In the central-western hilly and mountainous sectors, showers may cause localized runoff and erosion phenomena, rapid rises in the levels of minor watercourses and rapid landslides on the most fragile slopes. Below are the forecasts for the coming days prepared by Arpae.
Wednesday, September 9
Tomorrow will start under widespread cloudiness, but from late morning the worsening will intensify. The first thunderstorms, even of strong intensity, will arrive from the western sector and then progressively extend to the rest of the region. In the evening, cloudiness will tend to decrease over western Emilia. Minimum temperatures will remain stable or slightly increase, around 23-24 degrees in the plain and on the coast. The drop in maximum temperatures will be more marked, especially in the western and northern sectors: in the plain and along the coast, values between 28 and 32 degrees are expected. Winds will generally be moderate from the western quadrants but may suddenly strengthen with the passage of thunderstorm systems. The sea will also change: initially calm, it will become rough and locally, for short periods, very rough due to gusts.
Thursday, September 10
The bad weather will not yet be completely behind us. Thursday will be characterized by cloudy skies and scattered or widespread thunderstorms, especially in the central-eastern sector of Emilia-Romagna. The real novelty will be the temperature drop. Temperatures will decrease, especially in the maximum values: in the plain and on the coast, minimums will be around 20-21 degrees, while maximums will range between 23 and 26 degrees. Winds will blow mainly weak or moderate from the northern quadrants, with possible gusts in areas affected by thunderstorms. The sea will generally remain rough.
Is summer over?
“But is it correct to talk about the “end of summer”? Probably not – says Roberto Nanni, meteorological technician of Ampro – at least not in an absolute sense. The perturbation passage mainly represents the end of the long period of anomalous heat, not necessarily the end of summer conditions in the strict sense. After a still variable and relatively cool phase between Friday and the weekend, a new strengthening of high pressure over the western Mediterranean is possible, accompanied by a gradual recovery of temperatures. The novelty, therefore, will not be so much the definitive absence of summer but the loss of that continuity of heat that characterized summer 2026. From now on the scenario could become more alternating, with stable and still mild phases alternating with perturbation passages and incursions of cooler air. For Emilia-Romagna, a new phase opens: not necessarily the end of summer, but certainly the end of its long hegemony.”
