AEMET testifies it used Avamet stations and Cullera radar in Catarroja DANA probe

The Spanish state weather agency AEMET told the judge investigating the October 29, 2024 DANA response that its main monitoring tool that day was the Cullera radar, with Avamet station data used as a complementary source. The submission was sent to the court in Catarroja after Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra asked AEMET to specify what data from the Valencian meteorology association Avamet it had used or had available during the storm. AEMET said the external station readings were used while they remained available in real time and were also cited in public updates on its official X account. The filing adds detail to one of the court’s current lines of inquiry: what information was available to public bodies as the storm unfolded. ### What exactly did AEMET tell the judge about Avamet and the Cullera radar? AEMET said in its written response that the Cullera radar was its “fundamental” or principal tool for tracking the October 29 episode, according to reports on the filing. The agency said it also used data from Avamet stations, hydrological networks and other observation systems as support for monitoring and later analysis. (democrata.es) The judge’s request focused on a specific point in AEMET’s official DANA report: that accumulated rainfall sources included AEMET, the river basin authorities and Avamet. The court asked AEMET to spell out which Avamet data it used or had access to during the event. (democrata.es) ### Which Avamet data did AEMET say it used in public that day? AEMET said it used Avamet station data in posts published on X on October 29, 2024 at 7:50 a.m., 11:38 a.m. and 1:29 p.m. In those messages, the agency reported rainfall totals from Avamet’s network in places including Castelló de la Ribera, La Pobla Llarga, Alberic, Tous and Massalavés. (democrata.es) One of the cited updates said Avamet stations in Ribera Alta had exceeded 150 liters per square meter in Castelló de la Ribera and La Pobla Llarga. A later post said some Avamet readings had passed 200 liters per square meter, and another listed accumulations including 239.6 liters per square meter in Castelló de la Ribera, 220.2 in Massalavés and 219.0 in La Pobla Llarga, according to the court filing as reported by Spanish media. (democrata.es) ### Why is the court asking about a private station network? Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra is examining what public authorities knew, or could have known, as the storm intensified and whether publicly available data were consulted during the emergency. El País reported on May 6 that the judge was investigating why the regional government had not used public data to anticipate the scale of the disaster. (infobae.com) On May 6, the judge also ordered Avamet to provide raw and validated data from all of its stations for October 29, 2024, including timestamps, station identification, coordinates, rainfall totals, intensity, measurement interval and transmission status. The same order called Avamet’s president to testify as a witness-expert at the request of the FTAP-CGT private prosecution. (elpais.com) ### Did AEMET say the data stream held up throughout the day? AEMET said many weather stations, including Avamet sites, other networks and some of its own stations, stopped transmitting temporarily during the afternoon of October 29, 2024 because of communications and power outages caused by the storm itself. The agency said it used Avamet data while those readings were available in real time. (europapress.es) That point matters to the court record because it distinguishes between information available during the emergency and data used later for analysis. AEMET’s account, as reported, says both uses occurred, but that real-time availability was disrupted as infrastructure failed. (democrata.es) ### Where does this fit in the wider Catarroja case? The Catarroja court has been widening its fact-finding on the October 29, 2024 emergency, including testimony from officials and requests for communications and technical records. In March, Spain’s judiciary said the judge had decided to call former regional leader Carlos Mazón as a witness once a separate higher-court ruling became final. (democrata.es) The next steps now include Avamet’s production of its October 29 station records and communications with bodies including AEMET and the Júcar river authority, as well as the witness-expert appearance by Avamet’s president ordered by the judge. (europapress.es) (poderjudicial.es)