Extraordinary conditions and extremely high speed wind gusts created the conditions for the extension and spread of the 23 July wildfire, according to Manolis Pleionis, the director of the National Observatory of Athens and professor of astronomy at the University of Thessaloniki.
The velocity of the winds was recorded by a network of 48 meteorological stations in Attica.
“We measured the gusts in the broader region, and the analysis of the data showed the very high level of wind gusts. At certain stations – Isthmos, Kaparelli, Viotia, Parnitha, Penteli, Ano Liosia, and Neos Kosmos – those gusts were the strongest recorded in the last eight years that we have stations in these areas,” said Pleionis, noting that the record may be much longer, as these stations have been in place for less than a decade.
Pleionis said that the conditions were particular as there were tempestuous gusts from the west and northwest, on the eastern mainland more generally and in Attica, that lasted from 12am to 10pm.
“The gusts were tempestuous. The average was about 65 kilometres per hour, which would be around seven on the Beaufort scale. These winds had very many gusts, strong gusts that reached 120km per hour – which would be 12 on the Beaufort scale. Those gusts were momentary, but they did the damage and created conditions for an expansion of the fire,” Pleionis said.
