Scorching weekend: temperatures will exceed 35ºC in the warmest areas

BarcelonaTemperatures have taken a leap forward this Friday and, after a still quite cool and sweater-weather morning, the heat has soared at midday and is already summery, with highs exceeding 30 ºC inland, and reaching 35 ºC in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre). And thermometers will rise even more this weekend, with full summer weather and values clearly higher than they should be at this time of year.

Temperatures will exceed 30 ºC in many places, and 35 ºC in Ponent and Ebre, where 38 ºC will be locally reached. All this with more mugginess and tropical nights near the sea. This gust of warm air coming from North Africa will also be accompanied by increasingly suspended dust, as well as an anticyclone that will generally guarantee radiant sunshine. However, from Sunday onwards, afternoon showers and thunderstorms will reappear in the Pyrenees.

Saturday: sun and summer heat

Temperatures will rise further this Saturday, both day and night. It will be less cool early on, and even tropical minimums will reappear in some coastal stretches, especially in densely populated areas. During the middle of the day, the atmosphere will be summery, with highs of 30 to 35 ºC in the pre-coastal areas, inland, and in several valleys of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees. These figures will even be exceeded towards Ponent and the Ebro. On the coast, values will range between 27 and 30 ºC, with more marked sultriness.

All this with calm and radiant sun everywhere without exception. There may only be some morning fog or low clouds that will dissipate quickly, and if any afternoon cloudiness develops in the Pyrenees, it will be completely harmless, as no rain is expected anywhere. Some decorative touches of high, thin clouds may also arrive from the west throughout the day.

Sunday: more heat and afternoon showers

Thermometers will still rise a little more on the last day of the weekend, especially at night. Tropical lows will gain ground near the sea, and maximum temperatures could reach up to 37 or 38 ºC in parts of Ponent and the Ebro valley. Uncontrolled heat for the time of year, more typical of the summer heatwave than mid-June, when there is still a week left until the official arrival of astronomical summer.

The sun will dominate, but the novelty will be that a bit of cold air will arrive at altitude, as the anticyclonic ridge will move a little. Upon colliding with so much heat, this slight change will favor afternoon clouds growing stronger and the reappearance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms in the Pyrenees. A situation that will worsen towards Monday. Nevertheless, next week will be generally stable and very warm, as no clear end is seen to this new summer episode advanced for the dates.