View from Competa. (Land or Cloud)

[allgram]

Hello, Can someone help me, when looking down from Competa to Torre del Mar, on the horizon is it clouds I can see out on horizon on most clear days or as my wife says "Land" ?.I am fairly sure that I read that it is a cloud formation.
Thank you
allgram.

[fincalospinos]

On clear days, and particularly later in the day, looking directly south between September and May you can often see the coast and hills of North Africa.
As the weather warms up and it becomes more hazy, you will not see it.

[Lyric]

It does have to be exceptionally clear, I am high above El Morche and we have seen Africa three times in the last year. The real clue is if they are there the following day, or the next time, in the same place then they are not clouds !
Also, contrary to popular belief what can be seen are not the Atlas Mountains but the "Rif" range.

[Lyric]

And tonight is an Africa night

[knowal]

Wow, that's over 200km!

[Lyric]

It was so clear tonight that I think there must have been some atmospheric bending going on as it didn't look remotely possible earlier in the day, too hazy.
I am 4km inland from El Morche and at 400m give or take, if you do the ruler in Google Earth and calculate the horizon distances it is possible. I didn't believe it either.

[El Cid]

It's quite possible.

The Rif are about 1600m or so and that gives a distance from the horizon of about 140km. If you are 400m up the horizon distance is about 70 km so the combined distance is about 210km which is pretty much the distance across the sea to the Rif.

Add a bit of atmospheric bending and you can easily see something in the distance.

Less likely at this time of year as it is too hazy. Late evening just before sunset in the winter is the most likely time to see Africa but you will be lucky to see it more than a couple of times a year.

Sid

[Lyric]

True Sid, didn't quite believe it tonight as it has been and still looked quite hazy but I took some rubbish out to the garage and there it was in all the correct places - amazing

[fincalospinos]

We are at approx 450 mtrs, between Competa and Torrox, and Africa was visible all day yesterday
( Sunday), even as we drove down to the coast it was still visible from approx 200 mtrs,
The sea was like a millpond and very little haze.

[patricia]

I have seen it once it was on a very clear day as the sun was going down behind the mountains which makes them stand out. I rushed home to pick up my camera but by that time it had disappeared

[poppylou]

That was a fantastic view yesterday from 600m in Canillas. A friend had said it was about 185km across the water, but it looked so close! We, too, went down to the coast, hoping for a cooling breeze - wrong!

[Lyric]

Today has been an visible Africa day for most of the day and now it is exceptional.