Ibiza bid farewell to the year 2024 with more than 200 lightning strikes on the island and a lot of rain, especially during midday, which affected all the municipalities of the island. The yellow alert that had been declared by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) for heavy rainfall and gusts of wind did not save many citizens from getting soaked from head to toe during the last errands of New Year’s Eve.
At around 3 pm, in addition, the Sant Rafel tunnel, on the Ibiza-Sant Antoni highway and competence of the Govern, as clarified yesterday from the Consell, suffered a blackout that lasted until at least 7 pm. The lack of light in the tunnel and on the road due to heavy rains and fog reduced the visibility of drivers for hours.
The weather agency recorded yesterday up to 52 liters per square meter in the municipality of Sant Joan: 23.4 in just one hour; in the airport of es Codolar the records marked 39 liters per square meter, 28 per square meter in Vila and 23 in Sant Antoni. The heavy rains also caused flooding in some areas, such as the access roads to Vila and in some park and ride lots. Another consequence of the storm was that in the town of Sant Josep, some citizens were left without mobile network service during the early hours of January 1 and until the afternoon of the same day.
Although the cause is unknown, neighbors are considering the possibility that one of the lightning bolts struck on one of the antennas of sa Talaia. In total, the storm discharged more than 200 lightning strikes across the island, some of them photographed and shared by some users on social networks. The Aemet radar had registered more than 200 lightning strikes until 5 p.m. on December 31 and most of them are located on the map over the Pitiusas. During the early morning also fell a pine tree in the neighborhood of Siesta, in Santa Eulària, which a team of firefighters was responsible for removing.
The heavy rain forced the cancellation of several eventsamong them, the Pujada a la Catedral de Ibiza, the traditional popular race held every December 31. The new scheduled date is January 4. On the other hand, the Ibiza Town Hall decided to suspend the New Year’s Eve La Movida party in Vara de Rey, as well as the first swim of the year scheduled for January 1 in ses Figueretes.
The Aemet reported through social networks that in the early hours of yesterday morning the storm had been punctually strong, but would be losing strength throughout the day 1. For the next few days, the state agency forecasts temperatures between 15 degrees and 18 degrees.
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