It’s been a washout in Spain in recent weeks, with back to back storms and endless days of downpours. Why is this, and is there an end in sight?
You’ve probably noticed that it’s been raining pretty much non-stop in Spain over at least the last three weeks.
Whether it be the recent Storm Jana, then Storm Konrad hitting much of Spain with rain, strong winds and snow last week, or now Storm Laurence bringing further wet weather to large parts of the country from Monday, it’s been an unusually wet (and cold, in places) month so far.
In fact, all the data suggests that this March will probably be the wettest on record, and judging by the sheer number of rainy days we’ve had so far this month, it seems almost certain this will be the case even if it’s sunny for the rest of March.
READ ALSO: Incessant rain continues in Spain with arrival of Storm Laurence
The southern region of Andalusia, for example, has now accumulated almost two consecutive weeks of stormy days.
Locals in Córdoba have seen 16 consecutive days of non-stop rainfall, and in Madrid the first week of March the capital recorded almost the same amount of rain that it usually accumulates throughout the entire spring.
According to data from Spain’s state meteorological agency (Aemet), in just eight days Madrid’s Retiro observatory collected 100 millimetres of accumulated rainfall, a figure that is close to the average rainfall between March and May in the capital.
Ciudad Real has recorded rainfall for 14 consecutive days, the eleventh longest streak of rain since 1920.
Aemet spokesman Rubén del Campo told the Spanish press that in just the first nine days of March, in Spain it rained “three times more than normal.”
Now, this week, the bad weather is set to continue as yet another new storm arrives in the peninsula and puts more than half the country on alert for strong winds, heavy rain and intense waves, according to Spain’s state meteorological agency (Aemet).
In just two weeks, Spain has been soaked by Storm Jana, Storm Konrad, Storm Laurence and now Storm Martinho.
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Why won’t it stop raining in Spain?
Without wanting to get overly meteorological, the rainy conditions are being caused by a high-pressure anticyclone system located in northern Europe, somewhere near the UK, which basically forces storm systems to descend in latitude and head southward towards Spain.
“These are storms that are circulating at lower latitudes than is common at this time of year,” del Campo explains.
At high altitude, weather fronts feed the anticyclonic circulation, which causes large movements of warm air northward and cold air towards southwards.
Aemet also notes that warmer ocean temperatures can cause rains to be heavier because the warm sea water provides energy, as long as the atmospheric conditions are right, which has likely worsened the wet spell.
READ ALSO: What’s a ‘borrasca’ in Spain and how is it different from a DANA?
