Harshest winter of last 30 years comes to a close

TODAY marks the end of one of the harshest winters in Majorca in the past 30 years, with the wettest February since 1974 and snowfall similar to 1999, beaten only in recent decades by the snow fall of 1985. The heaviest snowfall was on January 31, particularly in the east, although it did not reach the levels of 1956, which has gone down in history as “the year of the snow.” The winter was marked by heavy rainfall, low temperatures and strong winds.
The worst storm was on January 31, although the rain and wind were not as intense as that of November 2001, which caused damage that can still be seen today. A large part of Majorca had not seen such a wet February since 1974 and the weather stations at Capdepera lighthouse, Portocolom and Sa Pobla chalked up historical records of 154, 135.5 and 151 litres of rain per square metre respectively. Port of Pollensa, Lluc and Porreres also had their second wettest February. But while rainfall at Lluc was 376 litres per square metre, its record still stands at 433 litres in February 1974. January 31 will be remembered for the storm, with rain, snow and sleet over most of the island, very low temperatures (-0 C in the Tramuntana mountains), winds of more than 100kph and waves of up to seven metres. However, the November 2001 storm had more rain and stronger winds, but while no snow fell, the damage was much greater, with considerable damage to private and public property and hundreds of thousands of trees uprooted. Rainfall records show 2000 and 2001 as years of drought and last year as one of the wettest since weather records have been kept.