Alert for heavy rains: downpours in the central coastal and pre-coastal areas

BarcelonaThe weather changed again this Friday, with increasing cloud cover and the return of showers in the northeast and along the Barcelona coast from mid-afternoon onwards. This instability will continue throughout the weekend, with a gray Saturday in many regions and rain in several areas of the country, accompanied by cooler temperatures. Some showers are locally heavy and persistent, prompting Civil Protection to activate the Inuncat flood plan and send alerts to mobile phones in some municipalities of Vallès Oriental, Barcelonès, and Maresme.

Sunday will be a day of variable weather, awaiting a new front that will bring more rain from the west starting in the afternoon, which will spread as the day progresses. Astronomical winter officially arrives on Sunday at 4:03 PM, accompanied by a drop in temperatures that we will notice most on Monday. We can expect a wintry Christmas week, with below-average temperatures and a risk of more rain and snow.

Saturday: a gray and rainy day

The sky will be mostly cloudy this Saturday. A gray day with some clear spells towards the west. While there is some uncertainty about the final distribution of precipitation, rain is expected throughout Saturday in several regions, particularly in Barcelona and Girona, as well as in the eastern Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees. Scattered showers cannot be ruled out in the rest of the country, but the heaviest downpours will affect the central coast and pre-coastal areas and the eastern half of the country. The snow level will be around 1,800 or 2,000 meters, and some showers may be heavy, especially along the coast and pre-coastal areas of Barcelona. Therefore, Meteocat has issued rain alerts that could locally exceed 20 liters per square meter in just half an hour in several regions, particularly in Barcelona and Girona. There is also a warning for rainfall accumulations of more than 100 l/m² in 24 hours from Vallès Occidental and Barcelonès to Baix Empordà.

Showers and some locally intense thunderstorms are also expected in the Balearic Islands, while in the Valencian Community there will be variable skies with little risk of rain. Temperatures will drop, with cooler daytime temperatures. Most highs will range between 10 and 15 °C, lower in mountainous areas and in the northern interior.

Sunday: day of impasse

Early mornings may still bring rain to the northeast, but by morning everything will be fine. It will be a day of variable skies and winds between the southwest and west. The approach of a new cold front will bring rain back to the western regions, especially in the afternoon, and particularly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees of Lleida. The snow level will drop below 1,500 meters as the day progresses. Even before midnight, the snow level could be around 1,000 meters in Els Ports and the western Pyrenees. Towards evening, this rain could spread to more regions from west to east, although there is still some uncertainty. This rain front will also reach the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands in the afternoon. Temperatures will rise temporarily in Girona and Barcelona, ​​but will begin to drop further in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees of Lleida. Astronomical winter will officially begin at 16:03.

Busy and cold Christmas week

The passage of this front will cause a significant drop in temperatures on Monday, with a cold and decidedly wintry feel. Throughout the following days, thermometers will fluctuate, but will generally remain below the average for this time of year. Therefore, we can expect a very cold Christmas week, with much uncertainty surrounding the precipitation.

The anticyclone will remain anchored over central and northern Europe, causing low-pressure systems and pockets of cold air to circulate over our region. Depending on the final position of all this, we will experience more or less precipitation and cold weather. We will also see what happens with the snow level, as snowfall is possible below 1,000 meters, even on Christmas Day. This highly uncertain situation requires close monitoring.

Summary of the new episode of downpours

The rain began to fall during the afternoon and evening of Friday, concentrated along the central coast and pre-coastal areas and in the eastern half of the region, but it was during Saturday morning and midday that the heaviest rainfall occurred in some districts, especially in the lower reaches of the Besòs River. By early afternoon, official automatic weather stations recorded 60 l/m² in Badalona, ​​53 l/m² in Granollers, and 29 l/m² in Parets del Vallès. However, some unofficial stations located in the southern part of Vallès Occidental recorded rainfall exceeding 100 l/m², such as in Martorelles and Sant Fost de Campcentelles.