Coming home

We’ve had a great time in Sale with the family but now it is time to come home. The case is packed and in the boot. Soon it will be time to take the hire car back and check in at the airport.

Looking at the CCTV cameras, it looks like the sun is shining ready for our return. Let’s hope it stays that way because we have a fair bit of washing to do. 

Manchester weather

We arrived at Manchester Airport last Thursday to be greeted by torrential rain. That made the journey to our hotel “interesting” in a strange car where we couldn’t work out how to change the heating.

Friday was no better but at least our journey was just local. By Sunday it was sunny and the weather has stayed mild and dry since.

Looking at the weather for Bigastro, we might not have faired any better there.

Sadly, by the time we return, we will have missed a couple of events that we would have preferred to attend. Still, time with the family is just as rewarding so we have no regrets.

Keeping you safe

I’ve had a message from Scout John telling me about a talk about security for the elderly. This will take place at the Auditorium on Tuesday, 2nd October at 11am. There will be a translator on hand to help those who have limited understanding of Spanish.

Halloween

Window decoration competition and pumpkin decorating class for this year's Halloween.

I have no idea

From the title, this is the 35th edition and on this occasion it will take place in Bigastro.

We know that it is musical and involves two choirs and is the synthesis of the three cultures: Christian (Gregorian chants), Arabic (chants of alborada) and Jews (similarities with the Sephardic chants of the synagogue).

The end of the Anniversary

The Closing Ceremony of the Anniversary of Thomas Villanova, will take place next Saturday.

 First there will be the opportunity to hear views expressed by Agustín Pastor Fuentes (Bigastrense  and Head of the Arrhythmia Unit of the University Hospital of Getafe), Gregorio Canales Martínez (Professor of Human Geography at the University of Alicante) Pascual Segura, author of the biography of Thomas Villanova) and direct testimonies by the descendants of the Villanova family.

Then the theatre group,  Lugarico will  represent their biographical work on the life and work of the illustrious scientist.

Although I have a personal invitiation from the Town Hall, unfortunately, we will be away then.

Much ado about nothing

We all know that weather forecasting is an imprecise art at best. When it comes to predicting DANAs though, trying to make accurate predictions is in another league.

You only have to search the internet to find videos of parts of Spain where the effect of the cold drop was intense. In particular, there is a video of a river rampaging down a street in Granada taking cars and vans along with it. There is a similar video taken in Ronda where the river is part way up the walls of houses. Both locations are where the streets are narrow and there is a hill.

We were forecast the high possibility of heavy rain and thunder but all we got was a short sharp downpour. That was lucky, things could have been much worse for us.

There have been some complaints about AEMET's forecasting but to be fair, it is better to expect the worst and then find things are nowhere near as bad as predicted. 

It is raining folks

Last time a DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) was forecast, we escaped and no more than a few drops fell on us.

Yesterday, the forecast for today was up rated to orange with a threat of very heavy rain. Today it is down rated to yellow. The map below shows the accumulated rainfall expected over 10 days from yesterday.

The problem is that DANAs are very unpredictable and the rain associated with them can be very local. It can be dry where you are and a washout just 5kms down the road with a clear line between the two.

You could hear thunder in the night, well at least I did but that was coming from Murcia. It is definitely raining today and the forecast is for it to continue through to Tuesday. As I have said though, we will have to wait and see.

Our second set of visitors went home last night. We thought they were going to have bad weather during their stay but they had none of it - plenty of sunshine, warm temperatures and no more than a breeze.

The other thing to watch out for are mosquitoes. So far, this summer I have only had a few minor bites but with rain puddles everywhere, the female insects will likely go into a breeding frenzy and be out in force collecting blood.

Orange alert

Be aware that there is a possibility that we will get some heavy rain sometime in the next two days. The situation has changed and the current risk level for this area has been reduced from orange to yellow on AEMET's website. In case you were wondering, we are at the bottom of that map.

If you doubt the force of nature, watch this video from yesterday.