Alert today in half the country for strong storms

BarcelonaThe sun, the calm, and the intense heat of the last few days are numbered, as this Wednesday a cold front will cross us, causing a notable change in the weather. It will be mainly from the afternoon until the night when downpours and storms will gain extent, especially in the Girona and Barcelona regions, in the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees. They may discharge with strong intensity and leave some heavy downpours. The north wind will strengthen at the ends and throughout the day temperatures will go down. We are at the gates of a new and clear cooling that in the coming days will bring back the air of the beginning of autumn.

Therefore, we will leave behind the mid-summer atmosphere that is not at all typical for mid-September of the last few days, and which peaked yesterday in the West and in the south, where thermometers reached up to more than 38 °C in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre), almost 38 °C in Priorat, or more than 36 °C in a large part of the West, in Bages, and in other areas of the south. Values very high for the season, while in the northeast the temperature already began to drop.

Wednesday: heavy storms

The night and early morning have been between cool and mild again, with tropical minimums still present in some coastal stretches. However, the minimum temperatures have already retreated a bit in some cases. The morning will still be quite calm and with more sun than clouds, although before noon some first showers may already fall on the central coast.

It will be from the afternoon onwards when the clouds will grow eagerly and showers and storms will reappear in various regions. Initially, they will fall mainly in the Girona regions, the Barcelona pre-coastal area, some sections of the central coast, in Central Catalonia, and in parts of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees. It may rain heavily and locally with hail, sleet, or strong winds.

Towards the evening and night, these storms will intensify along the coast and pre-coastal areas of Barcelona and the north of Tarragona, as well as in parts of Central Catalonia and the north of the country. Be careful, as heavy downpours may occur at night in these areas. Meteocat has activated yellow and orange alerts in all regions of Girona and Barcelona, as well as in Baix Penedès, Tarragonès, and Alt Camp, for accumulations of more than 40 l/m² in just half an hour. There is also an alert for accumulations of more than 60 or 90 l/m² in three hours in Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Tarragonès, and Baix and Alt Penedès.

Attention also to the Valencian Community and the island of Mallorca, where in the late afternoon, evening and at night it may also rain heavily and there may be some downpours.

All this with temperatures that will be dropping throughout the day. In the morning the cooling will not yet be very evident, but as the hours pass it will be noted that the mercury does not rise as much, and where it rains the drop will be sudden. The minimums will be recorded at the end of the day. In addition, the tramontana wind will strengthen in the Empordà and the mistral will also be felt in the south.

Heat kept at bay in the coming days

Thursday and Friday will see lingering showers on the central coast and in the north of the country, as well as in the south of the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands. In these latter areas, some intense thunderstorms may still occur, especially in Mallorca on Thursday morning.

But above all, what we will notice will be a clear and sharp drop in temperatures. The coming nights will be much cooler everywhere, and even cold in mountain areas. As for midday, the heat will be held back and kept very much in check. Therefore, after the Indian summer of the last few days, we will once again notice the feeling of early autumn.