Historic hailstorm hits Catalonia, Spain
A sudden, violent hailstorm wreaked havoc in parts of Catalonia, Spain on August 30, 2022, killing a toddler and leaving at least 50 people injured.
According to the Catalonian meteorological service – Meteocat, hailstones as large as 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter, or the size of a softball, rained down on the village of La Bisbal d’Emporda, north of Barcelona, for about 10 minutes, causing significant damage and casualties.1
“There was chaos, with little boys and girls running around alone, some parents were able to grab their children,” musician Sicus Carbonell, who was playing with his band at a local hotel, told Reuters.2
“Then a hailstone broke through the fabric … and I told my group that either we get into the restaurant or one of those tennis balls would land on us and we wouldn’t make it.”
The storm left at least 50 people injured, including a 20-month-old girl who later died in the hospital.
Meteocat said the hailstones were the largest recorded in Catalonia during the past two decades, adding that the thunderstorms that produced the hail were triggered by a cold front approaching Western Europe from the Atlantic Ocean.
References:
1 Pedregada històrica a Catalunya – Meteocat – August 31, 2022
2 Severe hailstorm strikes northern Spain, killing toddler – Reuters – August 31, 2022
Featured image credit: Meteocat
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