The scorching heat of last weekend will fade with the cool air that began to enter the islands yesterday. Although this Wednesday the maximum temperatures reached 32 degrees, the thermometer will mark about 29 degrees today on Ibiza, which is a significant decline in the last three days, specifically between “almost seven and ten degrees,” says the deputy spokesman of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in Balears, Miquel Gili.
This significant drop in temperature has been accompanied by clouds that were expected to cause showers and storms. This happens because of the clash between the arrival of a stream of cold air and the large amount of hot air accumulated in the atmosphere by the high temperatures and humidity generated during this sweltering summer.
The “heavy” rainfall yesterday forced an orange alert in the Pitiusas, Mallorca and Menorca.
Aemet denied that this phenomenon was caused by a cold drop and that it is a “potentially dangerous” situation. The rainfall was expected to be “very localized” and was not expected to be widespread, which made it very likely that the showers affect specific areas. Despite the complexity in determining how much rainfall to expect, Gili reported that the warning is that “40 liters per square meter per hour” could be expected. He also defined these rains as “short”, which are usually concentrated in about 15 and 20 minutes, but sometimes “the storm stands still in one place and can drop 30 and 40 liters”.
“Extreme” data
Although this year’s data are “extreme”, the rains during the month of August are not a novelty on the islands, rather they are a “typical”: “One of the most important characteristics of the Mediterranean climate is the concentration of a dry period in the warm months and the formation of storms at the end of the heat,” explains meteorologist Miguel Salamanca.
Heat and storms
However, the relationship between the heat suffered during the summer is not “perfectly proportional” with the storms that may arrive: “It is not because we have a super hot climate that a super storm has to occur” clarifies Salamanca. The damages that these rainfalls can cause are not certain, although some ‘tornados’ have not been ruled out.
We must not forget that the arrival of these rains are “necessary” after a “very dry and hot” summer and that the vegetation and the animals need is water “to be able to live”.
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