Coldest July since 1996
By:The CB Friday , Friday, July 16, 2004
The lowest July temperature was recorded in Castellfort - north of Castellón - in the early hours of Tuesday. Night temperatures reached lows of 7 C, and other towns in the area were little warmer – Villena and Vinaròs plummeted to just 13 C. Temperatures are abnormally low all along the Valencia region coast – an average of 17 C at night and daytime temperatures 4 C below the average for this time of year. Weather men say it is going to be colder and more changeable this summer with frequent evening rain and storms, and they rule out any likelihood of a heatwave. They attribute the drop in temperatures to polar winds coming from the Atlantic. Unusually high winds are also turning the sea into a death trap for bathers. Eleven people have drowned on this coast so far this summer. The coldest summers on this coast came in 1977 and 1996, when temperatures were 3 C lower than normal and weather was predominantly cloudy and stormy.