The State Meteorological Agency highlights the 30 litres/sqm that fell in La Manga in just 10 minutes, describing it as "extraordinary". 

 It is the first time in half a century that a weather event has covered almost the entire Region of Murcia, with rainfall between 200 and 300 l/sqm. 

Summer comes to a close with the first red rain alert in history for the Region of Murcia, which resulted in record rainfall exceeding 300 litres/square metre. This is the information provided by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and meteorological portals such as eltiempo.es or Ametse (Southeastern Meteorological Association). 

Yesterday was a time for taking stock, and the Aemet delegate in the Region of Murcia, Juan Esteban Palenzuela, pointed out that a rainfall rate of 30 litres in just ten minutes "is truly extraordinary". This occurred in La Manga during the cold drop from 11 to 14 September.

 In the Region of Murcia, 24-hour rainfall records were set at three Aemet measuring stations: San Javier, with a 74-year record series, 203.7 l/sqm; Cieza fire station, with a 22-year series, 167.3 l/sqm; Murcia, with a 34-year series, 169 l/sqm. 

Palenzuela, accompanied by Government Delegate Francisco Jiménez, stressed yesterday during the presentation of the summer climate review that in just 3 days, La Manga received the same amount of rain that usually falls in an entire year. 

He emphasized that what took place in the Region was the most significant episode of the last half-century and the largest compared to floods recorded since 1972. 

However, the probability of an "unprecedented" rainstorm associated with a Cut-off Low / DANA like this recurring within a year is under 1 per cent—meaning a return period of once every one hundred years, explained national Aemet spokesman Rubén del Campo. 

The most widespread 

The Aemet delegate in Murcia noted that comparing all floods over the past 50 years reveals that no other event covered such an extensive stretch of territory with 200 to 300 litres per square metre as seen recently. In the past, there were isolated phenomena such as those in 1989 in Cieza, in 2016 in Los Alcázares, in October 1982 in the north of the Region, or in 1987 in San Javier.