Heat and stuffiness, awaiting a slight freshening up at the end of the week

BarcelonaThe heat will continue to be intense, especially in the interior of the country, where temperatures will again exceed 38°C in the Lleida plain or in the interior of the Ebro valley. The meteorological situation offers no respite in terms of temperature due to the warm air mass coming from North Africa. This dry tropical mass will again generate temperatures above average and will cause heat peaks of up to 40°C in Ponent and Ebre between Tuesday and Thursday. In fact, we have already had 19 days in Catalonia with temperatures equal to or higher than 40°C.

The good news is that it is expected that from Friday and during the weekend this mass will move and give way to the entry of cooler air from the Atlantic. This clash between masses of very different conditions will generate powerful clouds and storms will discharge with force, but not everywhere in the country; therefore, it will cool down, especially where the most intense showers fall. In any case, the temperature will normalize and the heat will not be so extreme in the interior.

Tuesday: intense heat inland and stuffiness on the coast

The mercury will rise towards Tuesday, when the heat will be even more intense practically everywhere and tropical nights will be more present inland again. The sun will continue to dominate inland with some intervals of low clouds on the coast. In fact, early in the morning, the sky will be more overcast to the north of Maresme or to the south of Costa Brava, although no precipitation is expected. A little tramuntana wind will enter to the north of Cap de Begur, with mugginess, and in the rest of the area, a more variable and weak wind will blow, turning to a sea breeze in the afternoon.

Maximum temperatures will climb to 32 °C on the coast, where the heat will be sticky, with notable sultriness. Inland, the thermometer will move between 33 °C and 36 °C, reaching close to 38 °C or 39 °C in the Lleida plain.

Afternoon showers will be minor or non-existent, and if they appear they will be isolated and short-lived, in the Pre-Pyrenees or the easternmost Pyrenees.

Weather change from Thursday

The approach of a cold air trough at high altitude will cause atmospheric instability to gain ground during Wednesday afternoon, with the first showers in the north of the country. Looking ahead to Thursday and Friday, thunderstorms could affect a large part of the country, with locally intense storms that could also reach the coast. If the forecasts are met, intense storms are expected, which could leave 30 or 40 mm in just over half an hour, accompanied by strong gusts of wind, hail or sleet. In addition, the temperature will drop significantly 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 not even rain, due to the irregularity of these episodes.

Between Friday and next weekend the atmosphere will cool down a bit or, in any case, the heat will be bearable, without reaching the extremes of these past weeks. We will keep following it!