New wind and snow alerts to start April: when will absolute calm return?

BarcelonaThe north component wind is relentless and we have already chained seven consecutive days of intense gusts, concentrated mainly in the extremes of the country. This Tuesday, speeds exceeding 100 km/h have been surpassed again, highlighting the 151 km/h in Portbou and the 130 km/h in the Darnius-Boadella reservoir (Alt Empordà), the 133 km/h in La Tosa d’Alp (altitude 2,478 m, Cerdanya), the 125 km/h in Boí (altitude 2,537 m, Alta Ribagorça), the 115 km/h in Port del Comte (altitude 2,288 m, Solsonès), the 102 km/h in Santuari de Queralt (Berguedà), and the 101 km/h in Mas de Barberans (Montsià). All of this has once again caused incidents in these areas, especially on the Costa Brava.

And the storm will gain extension this Wednesday, the first day of April, with again very strong gusts at the extremes. Instability will increase, and a new, quite widespread snowfall is expected in the Pyrenees, which will particularly affect the northern face. The wind and snow will not disappear on Thursday, but from Friday onwards the situation will clearly improve, and the key days of Holy Week will be much calmer.

Wednesday: more wind and snow

The weather situation will still be marked by strong winds in many regions on the first day of April. The tramontana will once again be intense in Empordà and in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, also reaching the valleys for another day and in more areas of the Girona demarcation. The mistral will also blow strongly in the Ebro, south of Camp de Tarragona and in Ponent, while the gusting wind will strengthen and also affect other inland areas. In Castelló, Menorca, and much of Mallorca, the wind will also be strong. Speeds will exceed 100 km/h again, and many alerts remain active.

Attention in the Pyrenees, as the snowfall will reactivate and become widespread throughout the day. The most affected area will be the northern face of the Pyrenees, where at high altitudes, more than half a meter of new snow can accumulate. However, the episode will also end up jumping to the southern face, with less significant thicknesses. The snowline will move between 1,200 and 1,400 m. In high mountain areas, conditions will be extreme, with strong wind, blizzard, snow, and icy weather. There are also alerts activated for snowfall on the northern Pyrenean face, as well as for maritime storm on the Costa Brava.

The sun will dominate in most regions outside the Pyrenees, but throughout the day, cloud intervals will increase in the northeast. It will be between Wednesday evening and night and Thursday morning that some scattered showers will fall in regions of Girona and Barcelona. Very little, and quite localized phenomena. Temperatures will drop in parts of the northeast and the Pyrenees, with a cooler and more subdued atmosphere. Many highs from 16 to 21 °C, clearly lower in mountainous areas.

Clear improvement to the sight

On Thursday, the wind will still blow strongly at the extremities and it will snow on the north face of the Pyrenees. But the strong wind will lose extent and will clearly tend to decrease, especially on Friday. From then on and, therefore, during the key days of Easter when more people have holidays, the anticyclone will dominate. Days of sun and calm are expected everywhere, with a wind that will subside and very mild midday temperatures. Even temperatures can exceed 25 °C in Poniente and in the south. There will be a marked thermal contrast between day and night, and increasingly morning thermal inversion.