Category Archives: Weather

The Massive Downpour of 1989

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In early September 1989, twenty-three years ago last week, the South-East of the island was surprised by a ferocious Gota Fría, bringing torrential rain and utter devastation with it. Entire stretches of road were swept away, trees were uprooted by the thousands and dragged away, three people were killed when a hotel basement in Portocolom was flooded, hundreds of animals drowned and chaos ensued everywhere. The area around Felanitx and Cas Concos des Cavaller was declared a disaster zone and Reina Sofía (the Spanish Queen) flew in from Madrid to visit the affected area and talk to some of the victims. Rain fell at 06h00 in the morning at a rate of 125 litres per square metre within just 30 minutes. That’s about the same amount of rainfall that one could have expected to fall in one whole year. I had never seen or lived through anything like it in all my life, nor had most Mallorcans.

You may know the mountain of San Salvador, the Felanitx monastery. Believe me if I tell you that twelve rivers originated from that one mountain (many of you would call it a mere hill, at 510 m of altitude) after that rain. One of these rivers passed through Cas Concos, demolished an old country stone bridge and took oak trees of a considerable age with its raging force all the way to the beach of Es Trenc, some 29 kilometres away. Ten days later, no rivers were left, only torrentes, dry riverbeds.

Today’s photo shows the external wall of the Felanitx cemetery. This cemetery filled up, then, like a swimming pool until the Marès built walls could not contain the masses of water any longer nor support the water’s weight. The very walls shown in the picture collapsed in the process and an avalanche of mud and debris swept onto the surrounding fields, including the corpses of four recently buried people. The cemetery of s’Horta was similarly wrecked.

I’m telling you all this because now is the time of the year when the Gota Fría might visit this island. Be alert.

The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 23rd, 2012. The time was 13:23:37.

The Gota Fría and the Blue Moon

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You may well know by now that I am ill-equipped when it comes to taking pictures of the moon. This month of August 2012, we had two Full Moons, the second one being called a Blue Moon. The Trompa de Agua or Gota Fría we had two days ago in Palma and to the west, including Calvià, Andraitx and s’Aracco, may well have occurred as a consequence of the moon constellation. There was sufficient torrential rainfall, combined with thunder, lightning and a hail storm to cause trees to fall, the power supply to be interrupted, flooding in streets and houses, and what have you. The Gota Fría is a meteorological phenomenon which regularly befalls Mallorca at the end of Summer. The sudden drop in temperatures over the last two days would suggest just that, the end of Summer and the end of the stifling hot temperatures.

But worry not. The AEMet (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología) has us know that temperatures will rise again from Monday, September 3rd, to 30° C and beyond. You will still be able to go to the beach and there will be enough sun for a few more weeks to consolidate your tan. Don’t forget to put enough sun cream on, even though the air seems cooler now. It’s not the sun that burns your skin, it’s the UV rays. By the way, the Agency also tells us that the Yellow Alert will still be in action today and tomorrow in the North-East of the island, that’s the coastal area between Capdepera and Cala San Vicente, including Can Picafort, Alcúdia, Pollença and Formentor. Don’t go sailing up there if you want to be prudent.

The photo (top) was taken in s’Arraco, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 30th, 2012. The time was 21:29:31. The photo (bottom) was taken in Andratx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 30th, 2012. The time was 19:25:57.

Cool in the Pool

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You may be surprised when I tell you that we do not possess a swimming pool. We had guests staying with us the other day, for a week or so. Friends of theirs, who were here on holiday, were aghast to hear they stayed with us in a house without a piscina. The truth is that I would quite like to have a cooling-off swim basin but my wife is not in favour of my idea. You may also be shocked to hear that we don’t have air-conditioning in our house, either. I am totally against the environmental insanity and the harmful effect of air-conditioning, health-wise. Luckily my wife agrees with me on that one. Okay, it is hot out there right now, I grant you that. But temperatures will drop within a week or two; so, what’s the big deal? We keep our shutters shut all day long, and there is always a slight breeze and sufficient circulation of air in the house.

As for swimming: there is a large municipal piscina less than a mile down the road from our house with two large pools, a jacuzzi, a steam room and a sauna. And even better, there is the sea less than twenty minutes from here, by car, with two dozen bays and coves and beaches within half an hour’s drive, and some 250 beaches in Mallorca, all told. Would you rather swim in the pool or would you rather float in the Mediterranean Sea? That’s an easy answer, I would have thought.

The photo was taken near s’Alquería Blanca, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 22nd, 2012. The time was 22:40:14.

Fifty Grades of Shade

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We have recently been sent a heavy humid heat wave from the African land expanse. The Agencia Estatal de Meteorología has seen itself prompted to issue a Yellow Alert warning of high temperatures for today and tomorrow.

You may agree with my findings that the heat is more bearable when under the protective shield of some natural shade. The Mallorcan natives have always considered shade an important ally in combating the unforgiving aggression of the Summer sun. Main roads between major villages used to be lined with tall and handsome Aleppo Pine Trees (Pinus halepensis) affording a canopy of shade for those traversing the island. The same in Palma, where streets such as Carrer de Blanquerna were tree-lined, in this case with Lledoners (Celtis australis), offering the animals some shade on their way to the slaughterhouse at s’Escorxador. When I sit sipping my morning coffee, I do so under the shade of the Felanitx palm trees (Phoenix canariensis) and when I go to the beach I seek comfort under the pine trees. If there are no trees, I do not go to the beach during the hot July and August temperatures. I am not mad enough to get roasted like a suckling pig just for the sake of a swim in the Med.

The photo was taken in Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 7th, 2012. The time was 14:54:20.

An Early Summer Heat Wave

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AEMet, Spain’s Meteorological Institute, has given a weather alert concerning an Ola de Calor, a heat wave.  That’s early. The big Summer heat wave normally comes around July 20th, give or take a week. That makes it three weeks early for this year’s early Ola de Calor. In Southern parts of mainland Spain, temperatures are said to be going up to 38° C, even 40° C in some places. Here in Mallorca, temperatures are forecast to reach 30° C today and tomorrow, and may go up to 31° C in some places, and even 33° C by Friday. UV radiation will be higher than normal as well these next few days with a reading of 11 and above.

My advice would be to take it easy. Be wise. Put a straw hat on your head or some other cover whenever you go out. Drink plenty of liquid, preferably non-alcoholic. Put some sun cream lotion on, ideally with a higher than 35 factor. When at home, keep your persianers shut all day long and open the windows. If you must go to the beach, seek out a Cala where you will have plenty of natural tree shade, such as in my photo, taken in s’Arenal Petit, in Portocolom. Don’t sit and get your skin burned; you will suffer from it. If you do get sun burned, apply some juice from a freshly cut Aloe Vera plant, or rub your burned skin with some plain natural yoghurt.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: June 22nd, 2012. The time was 11:34:41.

Sister Moon

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I apologize for not offering you a better photo of yesterday’s Super Moon but there you go. The intention was there but my equipment does not seem to be good enough for the moon, the sky in general, flowers or other close-up objects or really anything. Luckily I don’t mind; I hope you don’t either.

Yesterday’s Full Moon was the biggest and brightest moon of the year having passed closer to the Earth than usual. I found Sister Moon to be surprisingly beautiful, very feminine, rather warm and glowing. It’s just a shame that the visual effect is different on the human eye than it is through my camera lens. What can one say?

The Super Moon came within about 357,000 km of Earth, which is about 22,000 km closer than average. The moon’s distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one. I hope you had a good night’s sleep.

The photos were taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 6th, 2012. The time was 23:56:46 and 23:18:20, respectively.

The Poetry of Clouds

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I never cease to be amazed by the utter beauty and the poetic quality of clouds, here in Mallorca. For the last few days and in the run-up to the Full Moon on Sunday, May 6th, we had some spectacular Cumulonimbus clouds. You may have noticed them yourself.

Please allow me to quote an excerpt from a poem by Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008), titled I Have the Wisdom of One Condemned…

… I dreamed the earth’s heart is greater
than its map,
more clear than its mirrors
and my gallows.
I was lost in a white cloud that carried me up high
as if I were a hoopoe
and the wind itself my wings.
At dawn, the call of the night guard
woke me from my dream, from my language:
You will live another death,
so revise your last will,
the hour of execution is postponed again …

The photo was taken near Costitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 1st, 2012. The time was 13:58:17.

Post script: My friend John spurred me to remind you of the very exerting Cloud Appreciation Society. There you will find everything you always wanted to know about clouds, and more, including a cloud appreciation manifesto, photos, music and poetry. Thank you, John.

Wild Flowers

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If you have lived in Mallorca for a number of years, say ten or even longer, you will not fail to have noticed that there are certain patterns, be that cycles in the weather or a certain rhythm in bird sightings or the blooming of flowers or trees. But now and then you will find that suddenly everything is upside down, or out of synch.

This year, for instance, we had much less than the usual amount of rainfall during February and March. Perhaps the rain will come in May. Wildflowers are usually out in massive appearance during April, as they are indeed this year, but the amapolas (red poppies) usually don’t come out in force until May. Well, this year May is April, or so it seems, at least as far as the poppies (Papaver rhoeas) are concerned. And I can’t say that I’ll complain.

The weather pattern is another thing. It was unusually cold over the last few days with even a hint of snow above 1300 metres. Yesterday, the sun came through again with temperatures rising ever so slightly. The outlook is quite good for the next few days with temperatures rising further from today to hit 20º C by the weekend. I won’t complain about that either.

The photo was taken near Palma, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 17th, 2012. The time was 14:33:58.

Les Fleurs du Mel

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I am not trying to quote Charles Baudelaire today. The blossoming tree photo has nothing to do with his Fleurs du Mal. Instead, the tree flowers of spring attract bees and insects by the hundreds to collect pollen for the industrious production of honey (Catalan: mel), in the case of the bees, and for instant nourishment in the case of other insects. Luckily, there is the added benefit of pollination which is done in the process to ensure that this tree will give us the plum or apricot or whatever this tree will bear. What a wonderful invention of nature, pleasing all our senses in the act: our eyes, our noses, our ears, our taste buds and our scientific eagerness to learn and to study.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: April 6th, 2012. The time was 17:39:43.

24 Hours in the Life of an Island

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(near Felanitx, at 00:40:23)

Twenty-eight years ago today, I orchestrated an exciting photo event in Los Angeles, California, in collaboration with one Red Saunders. Together, we edited the book that covered that event: 24 Hours in the Life of Los Angeles. All those years ago, we had assembled a team of 145 people, including 103 photographers from all over the world plus 16 local school children, to capture the life in this metropolis in the run-up to the 1984 Olympic Games.

Today, I have the pleasure to invite you to sample a similar adventure, somewhat different but nonetheless exciting, albeit without its results ending up in a glossy coffee-table book. I endeavour the making of a comprehensive portrait of Mallorca, my home for the last 25 years, by taking photographs over a period of 24 hours in the life of this island. This time, there is no team and there are no other photographers involved or invited. I will upload photos every few hours, depending on broadband connection, and today’s post will grow bigger and longer as the day progresses. The first photo was taken this morning at 00h40 on top of Puig de Sant Salvador near Felanitx, and the last one will be captured just before midnight in Plaça d’Espanya in Felanitx. Let’s see how it goes and let’s witness, if I will last the Tour de Force.

(Portocolom, at 01:28:42)

(Porto Cristo, at 02:03:46)

(Son Servera, at 02:52:00)

(near Canyamel, at 03:10:01)

(Cala Rajada, at 03:32:23)

(Cala Rajada, at 03:43:12)

(Felanitx, at 04:39:18)

I made a scheduled return to Felanitx to upload the first photos of this self-set challenge. Quite unscheduled, I fell asleep and had a 45 minutes nap. I was still good on time and schedule, though.

(near Petra, at 07:41:13)

(near Petra, at 08:00:33)

(Santa Margalida, at 09:24:54)

(Muro, at 10:44:09)

(near Muro, at 11:35:52)

At this time, I was still running to schedule, more or less. But it began to dawn on me that the task I had set might be a bigger one than I had calculated. I may have underestimated the challenge and the sheer distance between places, and I may have overestimated my abilities as a one-man-band. I decided that Mallorca was, in fact, a continent.

(near Muro, at 12:11:55)

(Port de Pollença, at 13:59:13)

(Pollença, at 14:18:33)

By now, it was quite evident that I was running late, and well behind schedule. I decided to alter my route plan. Instead of returning south via Crestatx, Sineu and Sant Joan, I decided to go up into the mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana to see if I could catch up on time by eliminating some of the planned stops.

(near Pollença, at 14:58:40)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:23:18)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:25:40)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:32:31)

(near Sa Calobra, at 15:33:02)

(near Fornalutx, at 15:37:35)

(near Fornalutx, at 15:43:27)

It now was clear: there was no way I could complete the whole island portrait, and comprehensive at that, within the self-elected time frame of 24 hours. For a start, there was no way that I could upload any photos during the course of my parcours. There were just too many kilometres to be driven from point to point. Mallorca is too big an island to be ticked off in one single day by one individual. I realized that I would have needed to employ the good services of a driver to allow me to concentrate on the scene selection and the location, instead of me minding the business of getting there in the first place. And it would have been wise to seek the support of an assistant to keep my back free from the logistics of the task. Me, on my own, doing the driving, route planning, rescheduling, time keeping, scene selection, setting up the tripod, shooting, editing, copy writing, Lightroom-ing, WordPress formatting and what have you, was just too much for one elderly man. And I was getting tired, sleepy, red-eyed, exhausted and anxious. I needed a hug, or a helpline, or something.

(near Sóller, at 15:51:15)

(Sóller, at 16:45:14)

(Sóller, at 17:03:36)

(Sóller, at 17:11:26)

In Sóller, I accepted the inevitability of defeat. It simply was impossible to cover all of Mallorca or at least, all 48 locations that I had scheduled, in one day and on my own. I would barely manage half that number and not even half the total distance. By now I had done some 300 kms, and I would surely need to do the same again, or more, with more than two thirds of the time already gone. I would need to be fitter (and younger), less mad, better equipped, better supported and assisted, and more realistic. I should simply have listened to my wife.

(Alfàbia, at 17:46:32)

(Alfàbia, at 17:54:46)

In Alfàbia I decided to go home. I needed to upload some of my photos and take stock. I might go out again after that to cover some of the Mallorcan hinterland, Porreres, Campos, Llucmajor, Sant Joan, Villafranca, Sineu, Llubi, and so on. For now, I certainly would not be able to cover the western parts of the island, Andratx, Estellencs, Banyalbufar, Valldemossa, Deià, Orient, Alaró, Bunyola; I might have to have another go at the region at some later stage. Palma, I was pretty sure that I would skip Palma for now.

(Felanitx, at 23:43:43)

Having aborted the project and not having gone out again once I arrived back home after 20 hours on the road and in the hot sun, I was busy photo editing, photo optimizing and uploading. I now did not need to do that final shot just before midnight that I had scheduled from earlier this morning. But I wanted to do it anyhow to have a pair of bookends, so to speak. As it happens, I met my friend John and he kindly agreed to pose as another mad hatter for mad me. No. This is not me sitting there, just in case you wondered.

Good night, and thank you for joining me on this ride and this very long day indeed. I need some sleep now.