We had a really freaky weather front roll in through Alicante yesterday morning... and I mean literally rolled in from somewhere inland out to sea. I was sitting at my table in the middle of the day when I suddenly noticed how dark it was and looked up to see this huge black cloud over the Castle. The really cool skies made me reach for my camera to take a couple of shots....
I ended up mesmerized by the advancing storm, watching the opposite coast around the Bay of Alicante gradually disappear into the cloud...
I was shocked by the amount of water running through the storm drain built after a major flood in 1997 (my dad couldn't even get the car out of the garage to come pick me up at the University it was so bad)... but even more surprising was how quickly it all came -in a matter of minutes- and went!
Less than an hour later the skies were pretty much cleared up and most of the water was gone...
Those are strange storms, but it's the way it usually rains here in Alicante, sudden and strong but short bursts. But when the hard rain goes on for over an hour, then we get floods... (usually in the Fall). People have been complaining about the really wet winter we had this year, but at least it was soft, gentle rain most of the time... good for the soil and the reservoirs. Not this torrential rains that drag everything along with them. It wrecks havoc on some of the beaches as well...
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| Playa de la Albufereta May 3rd 2010 (from Facebook group) |
As I said I was mesmerized by the storm (which turned out to be hail!) and kept fluctuating between my camera and my cell phone for some video. I've put it together in the video below, adding time stamps so you can get an idea how quickly things progressed. I trust you'll recognise the music... seemed an appropriate choice! ;o)
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The rest of Spain got hit pretty badly too... some mountain towns got snowed in again and a few mountain passes required the use of chains.
Beach and satellite photos from the blog Alicante Vivo.
Okay, you've got me, I should recognize the music but I didn't. Anyway, it was quite a huge storm and I was aghast at the people driving right through that water!! Glad it all turned out all right for everyone.
ReplyDeleteWow, those clouds are AWESOME. I love watching storms - very cool.
ReplyDeleteDJan, November Rain?!?!?! Iconic introduction to a great (and very long) song!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd some people started turning around to avoid the water... which has been higher during storms that lasted longer...
Dive Girl, yeah, storms here are hell on the land for the erosion, but make for some awesome skies! ;o)
Crazy winter and now a crazy spring, we've had some horrid, damaging storms in parts of the U.S., luckily, not here.
ReplyDeleteI remember these types of storms when I lived on the beach in Florida. The streets would flood and then be gone within minutes after the storm passed, thanks to our sandy soil.
The sky was gorgeous both before and after though!
Great pictures and video. It seems like it was really an awesome storm. I probably would've been hiding under a table!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blow by blow (no pun intended :-) It was pretty weird, too, especially how fast it moved!
ReplyDeleteShellbelle, winter here has been really crazy as well... excess snow, rain, storms. At least we shouldn't have water shortages this summer!
ReplyDeleteNicky, I was too mesmerized to hide anywhere! And I like crazy storms! If it hadn't been so cold I'd have been tempted to head down towards the beach to see the action up close! ;o)
Nancy, the speed of the whole thing is what really surprised us as well. But it's typical of desert storms, and Alicante is borderline arid territory so... this is almost normal here.