Extreme heat is leaving and thunderstorms are arriving

BarcelonaThe end of extreme heat has arrived with the entry of a cold air pocket. Temperatures of 40°C will no longer be repeated and the thermometer will drop, with a noticeable cooling at high altitudes and inland, especially on Friday and during the weekend. On the coast, this Thursday, we will still suffer from mugginess due to increased humidity and a more overcast sky.

During the weekend, the thermometer will remain a little below what would be expected for this time of year, and this will translate into a break during the nights and the disappearance of torrid and tropical nights, at least for a few days. The bad news is that the strong contrast between air masses of very different conditions will generate powerful clouds and storms will discharge with force, with some downpours and violent phenomena, such as strong gusts of wind, hail, and sleet.

Thursday: cloudy on the coast and first drizzles

The day will begin with a rather cloudy sky on the coast due to the arrival of an easterly flow that will bring a lot of humidity. The mugginess will be noticeable and the fall of some drizzle between the central coast and the Daurada is not ruled out, with areas of calm seas. Inland, thin clouds will appear and as the morning progresses, evolution clouds will grow.

Temperatures will drop slightly, but it will still be very hot, without being as extreme. The highest values will reach up to 37°C or 38°C in the Lleida plain and in the rest, they will range between 32°C (on the coast) and 36°C in Central Catalonia.

During the afternoon the weather will be more uncertain and the models indicate the arrival of the first showers in the Pyrenees and western pre-Pyrenees, as well as in the Ports de Tortosa-Beseit area. Similarly, the sky will be overcast in the eastern Pyrenees, with some thunderstorms in the Ripollès sector and nearby areas.

Radical change of weather for Friday

The approach of a cold air trough at altitude will cause atmospheric instability to gain ground during Friday morning. Early and for much of the morning, thunderstorms could affect a large part of the country, with locally intense storms that could also reach the coast, towards the afternoon-evening. If the forecasts are met, intense storms are expected, which could leave 30 mm in just over half an hour, accompanied by strong gusts of wind, hail or sleet. Accumulations in a few hours, for example, on the southern coast, the Prelitoral or in Ponent, could exceed 60 or 70 l/m². In addition, the temperature will drop notably and the atmosphere will be normal for the time of year. Despite everything, the rain will not water the entire territory and it is possible that in some regions it will rain very little due to the irregularity of these episodes.

Meteocat has issued a warning for heavy rain until Saturday morning:

Between Friday and next weekend the weather will cool down a bit or, in any case, the heat will be bearable and normal for these dates, without reaching the extremes of these last few weeks.

Maximums recorded on Wednesday:

• Vilanova de Segrià: 41.6 ºC
• Vinebre: 41.3 ºC
• Torroja del Priorat: 41.1 ºC
• Sant Romà d'Abella: 40.8 ºC
• Tàrrega: 40.7 ºC
• Margalef: 40.7 ºC