Wettest Balearic October on record for thirteen years

PALMA
PALMA has had the wettest October in thirteen years it was reported yesterday.
Meteorological records confirmed that it was as far back as 1994 when as much as 219 litres of water per square metre fell in the Islands.
This year, Palma has exceeded the average rainfall, recording 107 litres per square metre. In total, 171 litres fell when the average is only 64 litres. per square metre. In fact, average rainfall was broken nearly all over the Island. The only place not to have done so, said the Balearic Meteorological Centre was the Sierra de Alfàbia where six litres less than the average was recorded: precisely 108 litres of water per squrae metre were registered.

In other parts of the region, Ibiza had the rainiest October of all the Islands as at the airport, 179 litres of water were recorded as having fallen, a figure which indicates a massive 114 litres over and above the average.

The positive aspect to such heavy rainfall on Majorca is that it allows the reservoirs to top up: specifically, Gorg Blau in North West Majorca is now at 60.87 percent of its capacity storing 4'480'000 cubic metres of water. The other major reservoir, Cuber, is even higher at 77.36 percent of its capacity with a volume of 3'593'000 cubic metres. Joint capacity of the two storage point stands at 67.25. Over the last week, the capacity has undergone a significant increase of five decimal points.

Temperatures for the month on the other hand have not varied a great deal from the norm, remaining mostly within accepted limits in spite of stormy weather.

Looking at the meteorological reports, Palma had an average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius this October whilst over the last few years it has stood at 19.6 degrees. Average temperatures across the Balearics as a whole have varied little except in the case of Ibiza where the airport registered a two degree drop from the average.