Tag:
Articles in ‘Extreme weather Spain’
Rain in Andalucia
March 6th, 2010 The rains keep falling. Rainfall in Andalucia in February, after a very wet January, was THREE times as high as average in the last thirty years. Parts of Cadiz received more than 200mm. Recent records have been smashed across the region. More from El Periodico See also Rainy SpainElectrical storm
August 11th, 2009Stunning image of the immense power of an electrical storm in Alicante by Big Vern over on the forum, where he notes:
…we witnessed the most spectacular electrical storm I have ever seen, including those I’ve experienced in the tropics. We live in the Orba valley in the north of the Costa Blanca and this storm seemed to be out at sea; the thunder was very distant. The lightning was continuous and multiple, striking out in all directions – in fact I never saw any of the bolts go to earth. This fantastic light display continued for almost 15 minutes until the huge thunderhead cloud started to break up. Read more
Spanish winter not so cold
March 19th, 2009Despite our impressions, it seems that this year’s winter in Spain has not been so cold. According to the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (Aemet) winter registered an average temperature of 7.4º, more than half a point more than the same period for 2004 and 2005. The sensation of cold is due perhaps to the occasional extreme spells.
El País
And according to the AEMET 2008 has been a warm year in comparison with the 1971-2000 period, though it has been the coldest since 1996 with an average temperature of 15.0 ºC.
AEMET (pdf)
May rains spell end to drought
June 3rd, 2008
A remarkable and fortuitous month of rain in May has put an end to the drought affecting much of Spain, and in particular in Catalonia, where the much-publicised and criticised plan to transfer water from the Ebro to Barcelona is to be shelved. Overall for Spain, this has been the rainiest May since 1971, and the third wettest since 1940, with an average of 115 l/m2 across the country (1971 and 1984 recorded 124 and 115, respectively). Some areas have seen much longer records broken. For instance, Roquetas (Tarragona) has recorded the wettest May since 1880, leading to flooding along stretches of the Ebro. There has also been serious flooding in recent days further west along the Ebro Depression and in the Basque Country. Crops in some areas have been ruined. As the Spanish saying goes Nunca llueve a gusto de todos.
Reservoirs across Spain are now at 59.3% of their capacity. The reservoirs of the “internal basins” of Catalonia, which supply Barcelona, have doubled their capacity in less than two months to 53%. Various sources including El Mundo
We’ve heard another weather expression a lot in recent weeks, testament to the rains: Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo. (Until the 40th of May, don’t take your coat off)- N’er cast a clout till may be out, as they once said in English.
Update: Heavy rains have continued in some areas into June. The Guardian reported on this story and the effects of rain the Zaragoza Expo
Expo2008: Rain in Spain causes Zaragoza to complain
Organisers of international water festival find their grand opening hampered by heavy rainfall
Worst drought in Mediterranean Spain since 1912
March 26th, 2008Worst drought since 1912
According to director general of water of the Ministry of the Environment, Jaime Palop, Mediterranean Spain is suffering the worst drought since 1912. (El Mundo)
Spanish drought worsens
February 18th, 2008Spain is suffering its worst drought in the October-March semester for 60 years, with a national average of just 177 mm compared to the normal value of 316 mm. Only the unlikely event of very heavy rains over the next two weeks would save the period from beating the record. The prolonged drought over the last three years is the worst since reliable records began.
El Mundo
Drought in Catalonia
January 14th, 2008Worst drought in Catalonia for 70 years with little rain expected till April (El Pais)
The 1938 aurora borealis in Barcelona
December 19th, 2007I came across this remarkable event while reading about Barcelona in the Civil War
The “aurora borealis” is a luminescent meteor, a phenomenon that frequently happens in areas close to the North Pole and which can also be seen in rather exceptional circumstances in regions of Central Europe. So the aurora borealis that could quite clearly be seen from the Pyrenees, and even from the top of the Tibidabo hill in Barcelona, on the 25th of January 1938, was an absolutely unusual occurrence. It was in fact a unique experience. There are no known accounts of any other event of that kind at such meridional latitudes. Furthermore, the phenomenon took place in the midst of war, thus causing terrible confusion and shock among the soldiers who were fighting on the Aragonese front.
From THE REPUBLICAN YEARS (www.bcn.es) by J. Fabre, J.M. Huertas and. Pradas
Worst storms in Valencia’s history
October 17th, 2007With torrential rains and several deaths from storms in Valencia and Alicante in the last few weeks, it is worth remembering that the Mediterranean coast is characterised by extreme weather events in autumn and has always suffered from flooding, though year’s events have been grossly aggravated by building on flood plains and near dry river beds.
There have been 59 important floods in the last six centuries. This year is the 50 anniversary of 1957 flood (14/Oct), the worst in the 20th century, which caused 81 deaths, 52 of which were in the Valencian capital, as the River Turia burst its banks. 1,131,000 tonnes of mud had to be removed from the city. More from the great Alfred Picó.
But also seems that in recent years these extreme events have become more frequent because of climate change.
Snow in Barcelona
July 26th, 2007Snow falls on average just over once a year in Barcelona, though it sticks less than one in every ten. These photos are testament to the remarkable snowfall of 25 December 1962, the heaviest in living memory. See also snowfall of 2010 here
The rainfall records for Spain keep tumbling. According to the latest provisional figures 
I’ve just come across 
Three Iberian lynxes of the captive breeding programme have died in recent weeks from a renal disease. Lynxes in the wild are thought not to suffer from this disease.