First flouring in the Pyrenees to start a potentially rainy autumn

BarcelonaThe abrupt change in weather over the past few days has brought temperatures down. We've suddenly gone from the warm and muggy atmosphere of last week to a late-October atmosphere, with cold mornings and cool to mild middays. In fact, temperatures are around four or five degrees below average. Autumn has arrived with a bang. And with this influx of cold, polar air, the snow level in the Pyrenees has also dropped sharply, with some areas already seeing the first snowfalls of the season.

Between Monday night and Tuesday, snow reappeared at the highest points of the mountain range, especially in the Alt Pirineu. The most notable snowfalls occurred at 2,000 or 2,200 m, but snow has been seen locally up to 1,700 m. In Catalonia, snow has fallen especially in the highest mountains of the Aran Valley and the northern Pallars Sobirà, where the change in scenery has been spectacular in just a few hours. For example, the Baqueira Beret ski resort was snowed in at its highest altitudes this Tuesday.

Snowfall in the Aragonese Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains is also widespread, with depths of up to 20 centimeters in the Picos de Europa, where it has been almost thirty years since such heavy early snowfall had occurred.

Landscapes of full autumn, just four days ago we were still wearing short sleeves. And this autumnal atmosphere will continue in the coming hours, with the risk of snowfall in the Pyrenees starting at approximately 2,000 or 2,200 m.

Prelude to an autumn with possible rain.

This sudden change in the weather has coincided with the official arrival of autumn, which took place on Monday night. Therefore, the new season has begun with a bang. But what does the weather hold for us in the coming months?

In this regard, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has released its seasonal forecast for the three autumn months (September, October, and November). This is a long-term forecast that the agency calculates based on various meteorological models. The data concludes that, in general, rainfall could be common. Considering that autumn is the rainiest season of the year in many regions, we could be on the verge of autumn with the most rain since before the drought.

"Normal autumn means abundant rainfall concentrated in intense episodes; we must not rule out downpours like last Sunday's," Ramón Pascual, territorial delegate of Aemet in Catalonia, explained in statements to ARA. Climatologically, October is typically the wettest month of the year in many areas of the country, especially on the coast and pre-coast.

Therefore, it appears we will continue the rainy trend that began in spring and put an end to the historic drought. Despite the usual decline in reservoirs during the summer, reserves in the inland basins remain in very good condition, at around 74%. "We have good water resources and for now we shouldn't suffer any more from the drought, but be careful because sooner or later it will return in the coming years," warns Pascual.

As for temperatures, the Aemet seasonal forecast predicts they will remain above average. Thus, the trend of warm temperatures for the season that we have been experiencing for months and years will continue. These forecasts, despite some nuances, are similar to those we announced a few days ago at the ARA regarding rainfall and temperatures expected for this fall.