Friday, June 28, 2024, 07:12
“Horrible.” Resounding, dry, like one of the explosions that have sounded in the sky these days before unloading ice stones the size of hazelnuts and putting at risk the work of a whole year. Iván Martínez, president of the Cooperativa Frutos del Campo Nuestra Señora Villavieja de Nalda, gives voice to the desperation felt by all the farmers in the region.
Four hailstorms in these last two weeks, the most recent this past Wednesday afternoon, threaten to ruin the harvest of plums, pears and other fruit trees both in Nalda, the town hardest hit by storms in this unstable start to summer, as in much of the rich Iregua valley. “The hailstorm on Wednesday afternoon came to finish off what was already caused by the first one last week, which did a lot of damage, because a very large, large, and very hard stone fell,” laments the president of the cooperative. , which admits that “we have to wait, it is still too early to assess the damage that may have been caused.”
With the cherry harvest practically completed throughout the valley, hail has been especially primed in the region with plums, whose harvesting campaign usually begins throughout the month of July, but also with pears, apples and other fruit trees. , like apricots.
“It’s horrible,” insists Iván Martínez, who prefers to wait a few days before talking about data and being able to estimate the losses. “Now we have to treat the damaged fruit with healing agents to see if the wounds heal and we can save something,” he explains, admitting that the damage is evident. “As well as the fruit trees, the vegetable garden, and there are many here, has suffered a lot. The stone has destroyed everything that is a plant, whole tomato plants, courgettes, peppers… Not even the stem is left,” the farmer sadly assures.
That was the atmosphere that existed this Thursday in Nalda. “The farmers are sad, sunk, because it is desperate to see how in a while, the hailstorm on Wednesday lasted ten minutes or less, you can lose an entire year’s work,” the ‘El Colletero’ association admitted.
New threat of storms this Friday and thermal collapse over the weekend, 13 degrees less
Summer resists in La Rioja. The influence of the DANA that reached the Peninsula last Tuesday will maintain the atmosphere of instability in the region both on Friday, with the risk of strong storms, and during the weekend, in which, in addition, there will be starting tomorrow a thermal collapse with a drop in maximum temperatures of up to 13 degrees.
According to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), the Rioja Iberian region will be under yellow warning from midnight on Friday to Saturday for rain – with a possible accumulation of 20 litres per square metre – and for storms – “which may be accompanied by hail and very strong gusts of wind”. Along with the possibility of precipitation, Friday will be characterised by heat, with maximum temperatures expected to be around 31 degrees in Haro (minimum 17), 35 in Logroño (18) and 37 in Calahorra, where the mercury will not fall below 17. However, for the following day, official forecasts predict falling temperatures, “noticeable in the maximums”. Maximum temperatures would fall by up to 13 degrees in just 24 hours, to stay at 19 in Haro, 22 in Logroño and 24 in Calahorra. From Tuesday, the thermometers would start to climb again.
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