The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: A Spanish Flood Tragedy from a New Climate Changed World
Dear Diary. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, but all kidding aside, this news is ridiculously tragic. Yesterday I saw many messages concerning awful flooding that occurred in Eastern Spain. Rainfall rates were so heavy that they can only be chalked up to being enhanced by climate change.
Meteorologically, the atmospheric setup for heavy rain that fell at and around Valencia is called a Rex Block:
A weak upper low formed and got trapped over Spain in between two climate change influenced heat domes, one over Northern Europe and the other over the Sahara:
Here are more details from the Washington Post:
Spain floods leave at least 62 dead, with many more missing – The Washington Post
At least 62 dead, many more missing in Spain’s severe floods
The deluge flooded homes, swept away cars and took out a bridge. Over 1,000 members of Spain’s military were activated to help, but damage is hampering rescue efforts.
Vehicles are piled in the streets of Valencia, Spain, on Wednesday. (Alberto Saiz/AP)
By Chico Harlan, Anthony Faiola, Ian Livingston and Beatriz Ríos
Updated October 30, 2024 at 9:51 a.m. EDT|Published October 30, 2024 at 6:02 a.m. EDT
At least 62 people have died, and more are missing after torrential rains caused massive flooding in southeastern Spain, turning roads into rivers of floating cars and cutting off highways and access points, Spanish officials said Wednesday.
As much as a foot, or about 300 millimeters, of rain fell in mere hours late Tuesday, leading to catastrophic flooding in and around the city of Valencia. Totals throughout the day were reportedly as high as 20 inches, or 500 millimeters. The deluge reached the first floors of homes, swept away vehicles and in one instance — in footage captured on social media — knocked down a bridge.
Authorities raced to respond to rescue calls, dispatching helicopters in the Valencia region as well as other affected areas, including Cuenca and Albacete. Local authorities opened emergency shelters for those left homeless.
“We are in a very complicated moment,” Carlos Mazón, president of the Valencia region, told reporters. He described the situation as “unprecedented.”
Lucía Beamud, a city councillor and resident in the La Torre district of southern Valencia, told the Las Provincias news outlet Wednesday that the waters had risen “in a matter of minutes.”
“You could hear people screaming, and the neighbors were calling each other to try to confirm that the others were still alive,” Beamud said.
Witnesses described nightmarish scenarios as they sought to navigate the rising waters. One man told Levante that he abandoned his car when it began to take on water but was carried away by a current and ended up smashing into a wall. “I thought I was going to die,” he said.
As much of the country remained on elevated weather alert, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for vigilance and promised aid flood-hit areas.
“We’re going to help with all the resources of the state,” Sanchez told victims, pledging to “rebuild your houses, plazas, bridges.”
More than 1,000 members of Spain’s emergency military unit were activated to deal with the disaster.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc had engaged its Copernicus satellite system to help rescue teams on the ground, and offered to send additional first responders.
“What we are seeing is devastating,” she said. “Entire villages are covered in mud. People seeking refuge on trees, and cars swept away by the fury of the waters.”
A flooded area near Valencia on Wednesday. (Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images)
Sánchez described the disaster as the product of an isolated depression — when an extremely cold air current descends on hot air. Such cold fronts are typical in Spain this time of year, but the resulting deluge was particularly severe — the worst seen this century in Spain.
A combination of low pressure trapped near the Strait of Gibraltar and the unusually warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea fueled persistent streams of heavy thunderstorms that dumped on various parts of the country.
In some spots, months’ worth of rain poured down in hours.The country’s meteorological agency said one station recorded the heaviest rainfall in a 24-hour period in Valencia since 1996. Precipitable water values, a measure of moisture in the air, were around 300 percent of normal Tuesday, according to weather models.
A woman carries out folding chairs caked in mud after flooding in the Valencia region on Wednesday. (Eva Manez/Reuters)
In August, the Mediterranean reached its highest observed temperature for the second summer in a row. Although it has cooled somewhat into fall, much of the region is still seeing sea surface temperatures some 2 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 Celsius) above average. Scientists say warmer ocean waters create an atmosphere capable of holding more moisture — a phenomenon that can supercharge storms.
Boosted by the strong El Niño last winter, ongoing ocean warmth is largely driven by the steady march of human-caused climate change. According to Copernicus, the earth observation program of the European Union, water temperatures globally over the past two years are the highest on record.
The disaster in Spain is the latest in a series of generational flood events across Europe and around the globe. In the United States this month, Hurricane Helene caused more than 200 deaths — many of them inland, hundreds of miles from where the storm made landfall, as rainfall accumulated and roared into neighborhoods not prepared for calamity.
Last month, a slow-moving storm battered several countries in Eastern and Central Europe, killing more than two dozen people. Also in September, floods in Africa killed at least 200, including those who died when a dam burst in Nigeria.
Spain experienced flooding over the summer, too — in addition to extreme heat and wildfire threats from longer-term drought. The low-pressure area responsible for the recent deluge is still swirling over the region through the end of the week. Although it is weakening over time, additional flooding rain is possible in Spain until it departs.
By Chico Harlan, Anthony Faiola, Ian Livingston and Beatriz Ríos
More:
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is More Climate News from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)