2024-04-08 10:26:00
On August 30, 2022, the sky fell on La Bisbal d’Empordà, in Catalonia, with dramatic consequences.
A violent storm and unprecedented hailstones measuring 12 centimeters in diameter hit the small town of La Bisbal d’Empordà, known for its thriving ceramics economy, on August 31, 2022. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) then indicated that the hailstones were of a size never seen in the region since records began. A size even unprecedented to date in all of Spain.
Once the storm passed, La Bisbal was nothing but desolation and the village even mourned the death of a baby, a little girl aged 20 months, hit by one of these hailstones which also injured 67 people and caused extensive material damage to homes, commercial premises and vehicles.
The Diari de Girona mentions, this Monday, the publication of a study on the subject published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters which attempts to explain the causes of this episode of extreme hail.
Global warming singled out
For Professor María Luisa Martín of the University of Valladolid and her colleagues, an unprecedented marine heatwave played a key role in the development of this “super hailstorm”.
For the authors of the study, in the summer of 2022, the sea surface temperature had experienced an increase of +3.27°C on average, the largest increase recorded to date. A sea heatwave which had, moreover, lasted six weeks.
Numerical simulations show that the storm’s intensity was influenced by abundant atmospheric energy and warm sea moisture. These two factors favored the development of “supercells” in the Pyrenees with, ultimately, the birth of the meteorological phenomenon of such extreme hail.
Less violent episodes without the sea heatwave
The simulations also demonstrate a notable reduction in environments favorable to hail when the marine heatwave is not present.
The increase in sea surface temperature is one of the many consequences of global warming and has a direct impact on the frequency and intensity of prolonged marine heatwave episodes.
Note that some of the most violent hailstorms recorded in all the data collected occurred during the last three years…
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