The city of Valencia in southeastern Spain is a major urban area (Population exceeding 2.5 million). The city experiences a classic Mediterranean climate bordering on a semi arid climate being warm to hot with dry summers and cool moist winters. In this regard, most of the yearly rainfall falls during the cooler months with very little rainfall falling during the summer months.
The average annual rainfall for the city is approximately 458 mm.
There is also a period where rainfall peaks during October which occurs when a “Cold drop episode” occurs. The episodes occur when a cut off low forms over the western Mediterranean area then traverses along the coast of southern Europe such as Portugal and Spain.
The events are capable of producing intense thunderstorms, heavy rain episodes, flash floods and riverine flooding. The event of October 29 to November 4 is typical of such an event. The city of Valencia suffered from a major weather related flood disaster in 1957 which also occurred during October.
A series of intense thunderstorms on the 29th October 2024 impacted Valencia and mountains areas to the north and west of the city. Rainfall totals in some areas topped 300 mm in the space of 24 hours during October 29 and the results were catastrophic for the region.
Perhaps the heaviest rainfall occurred at Chiva where close to 500 mm fell from a storm event in the space of 12 hours on October 29.
The town of Turis recorded 184.6 mm of rain in one hour including 42 mm in 10 minutes between 6 pm and 7 pm on the 29 October which is an exceptional heavy rainfall event.
At the time of writing, the sudden flash floods have contributed to a death toll exceeding 220 (Currently 223).
On November 1, the town of Hueva Provice in southwest Spain received 134 mm of heavy rainfall during a 12 hour period. The city of Barcelona experienced an event on November 4 where upwards of 150 mm of rainfall fell.
The rainfall figures are unusually high for a region where yearly rainfall is not excessively high.
The images of Valencia before and after the flood event are dramatic (From NASA OLI on Landsat 8). Extensive flooding across the city is evident from just a single rainfall event especially for areas close to and along the Turia River which empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
The feature image attached above shows the thunderstorms of October 29 2024 (NASA Zoom Earth Southern Spain October 2024) that contributed to the event.