Gusts of more than 65 kilometers per hour have been recorded
A sand storm with a very strong and dry gale. This is how they described attendees and organizers of the Medusa Sunbeach Festival what happened last night on the beach in Cullera. Around 4 in the morning, strong gusts of wind hit the festival grounds and ended up knocking down part of the stage. The result: one young man dead and dozens injured. But what was the cause of this sudden and very strong gale that, in just a few minutes, managed to destroy part of the stage structure and the entrance to the venue with gusts of up to 65 kilometers per hour.
What happened last night at the Medusa Sunbeach Festival in Cullera is due to a thermal blowout. These phenomena are becoming more common in Comunitat Valenciana, especially coinciding with the episodes of extreme heat like today. The one recorded last night in Cullera raised strong gusts of wind that raised the sand on the beach and hit the camping area and the stages fully… and it was not an isolated case.
In fact, the entire Mediterranean coast has experienced a night marked by hot bursts and strong gusts of wind. During the early morning, hurricane-force winds of up to 85 kilometers per hour were recorded with a sharp increase in temperatures, with really surprising punctual maximums such as those 40.5 ºC that were registered at the Alicante airport of El Altet at 3:00 in the morning.
From the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet) they have explained that this phenomenon has been produced by the convergence of several factors on the Valencian coast. On the one hand, storms began to form last night in some areas of the province of Alicante and Valencia that moved north as the morning progressed. Inside, there were rains and lightning discharges. However, upon reaching the coastal zone, at exactly 4:00 in the morning in Cullera, the behavior of these storms changed.
According to the radar images provided by the Aemet, upon reaching the coast, it stopped raining, the storms began to dissipate but the blowout and infernal gusts of wind began. It is precisely at that point, on the coast, where the origin of these blowouts arises. Moisture-laden clouds collide with extremely dry air masses. When it starts to rain, the water evaporates before reaching the ground due to the dry heat between the cloud and the surface. According to meteorologists, the air cools quickly and, weighing more than the hot air, it collapses to the ground in a few seconds.
This fall or vertical collapse occurs from just over 5 kilometers in altitude. The air collapses, accelerates, compresses and collides with the surface causing winds of more than 80 kilometers per hour. During the compression of the air, it heats up and dries out again, so the sensation on the surface is dry and torrid.