Orange alert in Sagunto on 18 October: storms, hail and up to 40 mm of rain in an hour
Sagunto and the northern coast of Valencia province will be under an orange storm alert all day on Sunday 18 October, with up to 40 mm of rain in an hour.
Sunday 18 October will be an orange-alert day in Sagunto: the 112 Comunidad Valenciana emergency service and AEMET (Spain's state weather agency) have raised the rain and storm warning to that level, which means significant risk, for the city and the whole northern coast of Valencia province. The warning will stay active throughout the day.
The storms could bring hail and strong gusts of wind. As for rainfall, forecasters expect 40 mm accumulated in one hour and 80 mm in 12 hours. One millimetre equals one litre per square metre, so within sixty minutes 40 litres could fall on every square metre of street, plot or terrace.
The episode does not end with Sunday. At 00:00 on Monday 19 October the rain and storm warning drops to yellow and stays there until 11:59. Separately, from 18:00 on Sunday until 19:59 on Monday there is a yellow warning for coastal phenomena.
AEMET, the State Meteorological Agency, has among its functions the issuing of warnings and forecasts of weather events that may affect people's safety. For that reason Sagunto City Council asks residents to follow real-time warnings from its own channels, the AEMET website and 112 CV, and not to rely on messages of doubtful origin.
The council also repeats several rules for these situations. The first is not to use a vehicle unless strictly necessary. Anyone who has to travel should prefer main roads and motorways, reduce speed and leave more distance to the car ahead; if visibility drops, the best option is to stop. People should also avoid crossing or staying near ravines, riverbeds and any spot where water can collect, and should not park there.
At home and in shops it is advisable to secure awnings and shutters, check that drains are not blocked and remove objects that water or wind could carry away.
This is not the first time Sagunto has faced a warning of this level. According to elperiodic.com in September 2019, the city was then in pre-emergency at orange level for rain and yellow for coastal phenomena, and the Local Police, Civil Protection, Maintenance, Water services and the Consell Agrari were put on alert. In September 2021 the same outlet reported that, in the August storm, the Internuclis station had recorded 111.6 l/m2 in 24 hours, and that the council produced a report so that those affected could claim from their insurers. The 80 mm in 12 hours forecast now is below that figure, although the measurement periods are not the same.
The practical picture for Monday has two parts: the rain and storm warning stays yellow until 11:59, and the coastal-phenomena warning runs until 19:59. According to the Sagunto City Council, with additional data from Wikipedia and elperiodic.com on the 2019 and 2021 episodes.