Spain Floods After Incredible Rains: 78 Inches In Just 20 Days

Lately, there always seems to be water underfoot in
Spain. Relentless storms have dumped feet of 
water on Spain this winter. 

 Climate change is making big rainfalls even bigger, but what happened in Spain recently is just insane. 

As the Washington Post reported on February 10:

"In the mountainous southwestern part of the country, Grazalema - in the Andalusia region - has recorded over 90 inches of rain so far this year, including 78 inches in just the last 20 days alone.

Meteorologist Nahel Belherze called it a 'hydrologically absurd' amount. It is more than what would typically fall in an entire year at that location."

The 6.5 feet of rain in 20 days included about 15 inches that fell in just one day. 

As the Washington Post explains ,  the root cause of the flooding and torrential rains was the same polar vortex disruption that drove the eastern United States into the deep freeze in the second half of January and the beginning to February.

Large, relatively warm high pressure parked itself over and near Greenland. That shoves colder air and active storm tracks further south than usual. 

In Spain's case,  a straight shot of super wet air from the Caribbean kept blasting into Spain and Portugal.

In Portugal, this atmospheric river caused a bunch of trouble there, too. Part of the main north/south highway through Portugal was closed when a section of it collapsed due to the flooding. 

The geology at and near where that 78 inches of rain fell is a bit weird.  The limestone soils have pockets in them where moisture collects. If there's too much water, it spills out in spots where there is less resistance, so springs and brooks just tend to appear out of nowhere. 

Video shows clear water coursing down streets, pouring out of homes and gushing out of sidewalks. Torrents of white water poured down terraced walkways between historic buildings. 

Portugal and Spain have been battered by eight storms in quick succession. A new storm hit today.   This time, heavy rain, thunder, snow and gales caused more widespread infrastructure and crop damage. This latest storm forced the evacuation of thousands of people,. 

A woman in Barcelona was killed when part of a warehouse roof blew off and hit her. 

Crop damage includes the loss of two million kilos of asparagus. The olive harvest in Spain has also fallen way behind schedule due to the rough weather. 

Spain and Portugal have always experienced atmospheric rivers, but this winter's have been unprecedented. 

Spain has also been tormented by a series of deadly floods in recent years. Among the worst was a flash flood in Valencia back in October, 2024 that killed more than 200 people. These storms are consistent with climate change, since a warming atmosphere can hold more water than in the past. Sometimes, this extra atmospheric moisture in intense, dangerous storms. 

Video: Water cascades through historic neighborhoods. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that.