THE second week of March has seen “the heavens open”, drenching southern Spain with much-needed ‘agua’. As with previous storm fronts, there were destructive results in certain zones. These included floods, collapsed houses, rock falls, road closures, and the Junta de Andalucia activating its emergency plan for severe weather incidents.
Motoring was made difficult in some areas on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 March, because of snow on roads.
And, now, we have fresh warnings for Storm Konrad, with AEMET (Spain’s meteorological agency) predicting more heavy precipitation, including wind, rail, and snow, from tomorrow. Yellow warnings are, again, active.
Alleviating drought and filling reservoirs
Although Andalucia’s drought hasn’t ended, the recent heavy precipitation has created “breathing space” – especially in Malaga, where some reservoirs gained enough ‘agua’ to leave their “grave and severe” status. The 200hm2 of water pouring into the reservoirs, through channels including “rio secos”, is enough to cater for three million inhabitants for a year.
Source: Embalses.net
Snow business
Granada’s Sierra Nevada ski resort has seen its best “dumping” of the season, which is forecast to end on 27 April. The resort has raised its avalanche alert because of the sheer quantity of snow hanging around.
Even on the south flanks of the Sierra Nevada, which have been starved of decent snow this year, the coverage was ample. It was over 20cm in places above Cáñar and Capileira, making some rural tracks difficult to negotiate. The high village of Trevélez needed to deploy its municipal snowploughs. Two hikers had to be rescued from above Capileira by emergency services.
Photos: J. Chip
Visiting the snow?
With more precipitation due over the coming days, remember that if you drive up mountain tracks to view snow, avoid the following risks:
- Driving on ice (in any car).
- Driving in snow too deep to turn round.
- Turismos may need snow chains.
- Setting off too close to dusk.
- View the weather forecast first!
- Always take a warm blanket, water, and snacks in your car, in case of breakdown.
- Never drive on to obscure side routes and “short cuts” in sub-optimal conditions when you don’t know the area and its tracks.
