Hail like tangerines in a town in Albacete: the havoc left by the hailstorm in Villatoya
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During the afternoon of Sunday, September 17, dozens of Spanish municipalities suffered an episode of severe hailstorms with hailstones measuring more than five centimeters.. The province of Albacete, which was on orange alert due to heavy rainfall and storms, was one of the most affected by hail..
Villatoya was one of the municipalities where the hailstorm was most impressive. Located in the heart of the Cabriel Valley, this municipality of Albacete saw its streets covered in a white blanket of ice early in the afternoon.. Images of the hailstorm, shared on social networks, show how hail the size of tangerines fell.
They sent me this image of the hailstorm this afternoon in Villatoya (Albacete). It is perfectly possible that the hail could measure up to 5cm in diameter.. @tiempobrasero @AEMET_SINOBAS @AEMET_CLaMancha @apuntoratge pic.twitter.com/eIBhCQIzji
— ☈⚡TiempoValència☔❄ (@Tiempo_Valencia) September 17, 2023
In one of Villatoya's videos, recorded by Víctor García and shared on the Meteo Hellin Twitter account, you can see how the hailstorm wreaks havoc on the municipal swimming pool. In a few minutes, the pool cover could not withstand the onslaught of the hail and was completely holed..
Roads full of hail
After the hailstorm, the access roads to Villatoya were covered with hail, making it difficult for vehicles to circulate.. That same storm affected municipalities such as Chinchilla de Montearagón or the capital itself with a large amount of rain, falling more than 15 liters per square meter in less than an hour..
⛈️😳More images that we receive from the brutal hailstorm in Villatoya #Albacete #meteoAB
© Víctor García pic.twitter.com/x11ZUePSH7
— Meteo⚡Hellín (@MeteoHellin) September 17, 2023
😱⛈️What real savagery! Severe hailstorm in Villatoya in the middle of the Cabriel valley, extreme NE of #Albacete. #meteoAB @tiempobrasero
© Víctor García pic.twitter.com/LUHLwozfVz
— Meteo⚡Hellín (@MeteoHellin) September 17, 2023
Castilla-La Mancha is one of the communities in which, along with Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Galicia, Navarra, the Basque Country, the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community, there was an active alert for rainfall this weekend. The weather forecast came true, and the DANA fired heavily across almost the entire Peninsula..
These images reach us from the Requena district. It seems like the end of the world. There are hundreds of hectares of vineyards devastated before the harvest. Tomorrow we will assess the extent of the damage. pic.twitter.com/Gb18RTFkNm
— Associació Valenciana d'Agricultors (@ava_asaja) September 17, 2023
The same set of clouds that discharged the large hailstorm in Villatoya was moving towards the Plana de Utiel-Requena, in the Valencian Community. In its wake, it covered hundreds of hectares of vineyards with a blanket of ice stones, right at the gates of the harvest..