A new one DANA (“cold drop” in Italian) is passing over Spain, especially threatening the areas of Rum raisin And Terragonawhere for today 13 November 2024 the red alert is in force and torrential rains of up to 150 millimeters in 24 hours two weeks after the tragic flood in Valencia. Due to the red alert, schools were closed, around 3,000 people were evacuated and many cars were tied to poles to prevent them from being swept away by the water in the event of floods. The Spanish meteorological agency AEMET forecasts very heavy rain also in the coastal areas around Valencia And Alicante.
Bad weather forecasts in Spain: the DANA trajectory
The “cold drop” or DANA in Spanish (Depresion Aislada en Niveles Alto“isolated depression in the upper levels”) is a pocket of cold, low-pressure air at high altitude with closed internal circulation that “detaches” from a jet stream and becomes autonomous, moving independently of the general circulation of the atmosphere. It’s a phenomenon common in the Mediterranean area in the summer-autumn period: Right now there is another one also over Eastern Europe headed towards Russia. The one that is starting to be felt in Spain was until yesterday above France, where with its eastern edge it touched the Italian North-West where it caused the first snowfalls of the season in Val d’Aosta and Piedmont.
DANA then transited over the Balearic Islands and is currently stationed over eastern Spain. From tomorrow Thursday 14 November, AEMET expects the depression to move towards the south-west of the Iberian peninsula, bringing strong instability to theWestern Andalusia with expected rainfall of 80-100 millimeters. DANA will continue its westward trajectory until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday 16 November, putting an end to the bad weather in Spain. In fact, AEMET’s weather warnings last until Friday 15 November.
Comparison with the DANA of the flood in Valencia
Meteorologically speaking, the dynamic the Iberian peninsula is witnessing is similar to that which caused the Valencia disaster: the low pressure attracts humid air from the Mediterranean, whose evaporation is increased by the very high temperatures of its waters (currently approx 3°C above the average for the period). This humidity then acts as the “raw material” for the formation of storm cells and even very heavy rainfall.
Fortunately we are now faced with a low pressure system in motion, while the DANA that caused the floods in Spain at the end of October was stationarytherefore in the conditions of generating storms that are not only very violent but also persistent over relatively limited areas. On the other hand, however, the disturbances of these days will also fall on areas already affected by the latest floodswhere the soil still saturated with water will hardly be able to absorb the new rainfall.
