Cuatro has broadcast this Thursday a new live delivery of the third season of Horizon. In this edition, the program had the presence of Jorge Rey, a young meteorology fan who in 2021 correctly predicted the arrival of the Philomena storm and who noted what the weather could be like in summer using his innovative method. “Nature is wise and seeks balance. You just have to observe it”, assures the young disseminator.
The program, presented by Iker Jiménez, addressed the issue of cabañuelas, a traditional method of long-term weather forecasting widely used in rural areas. During his participation in Horizonte, Jorge Rey explained the keys that have led him to predict heavy rains in Spain.
Jorge Rey has surprised again, this time analyzing the flying ants. Thanks to these animals, Rey has an idea of what summer will be like in Spain. Flying ants are insects sensitive to climate change and, although it is a traditional method with no scientific basis, observing their behavior can provide clues. “I am the first surprised by the results. These models are forgotten, but they work”.
“The second half of June, we can see an anticyclone that prevails. A time improvement. And I know this from having studied the traditional models, and from analyzing the temporas and the cabañuelas they already told me when I made them”, he ventures to predict. "In June I have to do the temporas again to specify more information about the summer."
Rey anticipates that the ants are showing "abnormal behavior", just like last year. This indicates that summer will also be unusual, especially in the second half of July and August. According to Rey, the 'cabañuelas', another prediction system, coincides with these observations. During those periods, it is expected to be hotter than usual, but also more humid, which will bring more rain to the Mediterranean.
“The flying ants behaved abnormally last year, they left early and that indicates that the summer could be wetter than normal. Like the cabañuelas, they also value that probability ”.
Jorge Rey gained notoriety at the age of 14 when he predicted the arrival of Filomena, the worst snow storm that Spain has experienced so far. His name began to fill headlines, since he was the only person who knew how to predict the meteorological event that was about to hit the country at that time.
At that time, Rey was the meteorologist for the local channel Radio Espinosa Merindades in the Burgos town of Monasterio de Rodilla. From Filomena, the young man began to launch his own predictions on his website, his social networks and through a YouTube channel where he accumulates more than 16,000 subscribers.
Rey presents himself on his Instagram account, where he has almost 60,000 followers, as "16-year-old Burgos" and describes himself as "Your weather man."
Cabañuelas, a traditional method of long-term weather forecasting with no scientific basis, has been used for years by farmers in central and southern Spain.
This method is based on the observation of the atmospheric conditions during the first 12 days of January, which are associated with the 12 months of the year. For example, the weather observed on January 2 would correspond to February, January 3 to March, January 4 to April, and so on until the 12th, which would correspond to December.
Some cultures also apply the cabañuelas in the opposite direction, from January 13 to 24, assigning the 13th to December, the 14th to November and so on, until reaching January again on the 24th.
