ARCHIVED - Torrential storm hits Calasparra but Murcia region was also hottest place in Spain on Thursday

The storm hit Calasparra and Moratalla on Thursday evening

A torrential storm hit the north-west of the Murcia region on Thursday evening, with Calasparra and Moratalla at the centre of a major downpour.

State Meteorological Agency, Aemet, reported rainfall of 39.6mm, of which 30mm fell in just 10 minutes.
In Calasparra, several basements were flooded, which required the intervention of Protección Civil, Policía Local and municipal services and several powercuts were also reported in the area.

Se intensifica la granizada en puntos del NW de la Región de Murcia. Imágenes que nos trae nuestro compañero Pedro Sánchez del Camping de la Puerta (Moratalla, #Murcia). @Isabelscribano @AEMET_Murcia @ZubiaurreTV @tiempobrasero @objtormentas pic.twitter.com/a0TwXo80ii

— MeteoChat SE (@MeteoChatSE) September 16, 2021

In Moratalla, the storm hit agricultural areas in which the almond crop has not yet been harvested, and although rain and hail won’t damage mature almonds in their woody cases, knocking them to the ground and into the mud does make it difficult to harvest the crop, and in commercial exploitations would cause the crop to be written-off.

The storm also created a similar situation in neighbouring areas of the Alicante and Albecete provinces, although the heaviest rainfall on Thursday was in Cataluña, Blanes in Girona receiving 112mm of rain on Thursday, a huge amount of water, and several other areas of Cataluña reporting in excess of 50mm on Thursday.

Tremendo el acumulado de precipitación que ha dejado a su paso la tormenta por Calasparra (#Murcia) en tan solo 25 minutos. Dato e imágenes que nos reporta nuestro compañero Juanfran. pic.twitter.com/zRjRNUPd3o

— MeteoChat SE (@MeteoChatSE) September 16, 2021

The fact that nearby Archena was also the hottest place in Spain on Thursday, reporting 33.5 degrees, with Murcia city not far behind with 33.2 and Molina de Segura 30 degrees, highlights just how localised this particular storm was.

Image: Aemet