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

BarcelonaTemperatures have jumped forward this Friday and, after a morning that was still quite cool and required a sweater, during the day the heat has skyrocketed and is now summery, with highs exceeding 30 ºC inland, and reaching 35 ºC in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre). And thermometers will rise even further this weekend, with full summer weather and values clearly higher than what would be expected for this time of year.

Temperatures will exceed 30 ºC in many places, and 35 ºC in Ponent and the Ebro, where they will locally reach 38 ºC. All this with more sultriness 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 still rise more this Saturday, both day and night. First thing in the morning it will be less cool, and tropical minimums will even reappear in some coastal stretches, especially in densely populated areas. During the middle of the day the atmosphere will be like midsummer, with maximums of 30 to 35 ºC in the pre-coastal areas, inland, and in various 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 mugginess.

All this calmly and with radiant sun everywhere without exception. There may only be some morning fog or low clouds that will dissipate quickly, and if some afternoon cloud develops in the Pyrenees it will be totally 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 highs could climb 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 dog days 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. When 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 by Monday. Nevertheless, next week will be generally stable and very warm, as there is no clear end in sight to this new summer episode advanced for the dates.