New day of extreme heat, waiting for a slight and brief respite

BarcelonaWe wake up after a night of temperature contrasts. It has been warm and tropical in many regions, and scorching in parts of the coast and elevated areas of the pre-coast. The scorching night has even been repeated in Portbou (Alt Empordà), where temperatures have not dropped below 31 ºC all night. This location recorded the warmest night since records began in our region, specifically the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, with a minimum of 31.9 ºC. Also noteworthy are the minimums of 28.8 ºC at the Fabra observatory and 28.6 ºC in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. In contrast, these figures differ greatly from the coolness experienced in some areas, such as the valleys of the Pyrenees, where temperatures have dropped below 10 ºC.

All this after yesterday the peak of the heatwave caused an extraordinarily warm atmosphere. Temperatures reached or exceeded 40°C in many places, even on the coast. In fact, heat records were broken again, as happened on Tuesday. The most notable is that of the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, which with more than 113 years of data had never reached a maximum temperature of 40.9°C, an official figure recorded at the station of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (RACAB) which shatters the record in force until now from July 2024, and which is slightly higher than that registered at the Meteocat station at Fabra, which is 40.7°C, also an absolute record for this data series. In addition, a total of 10 Meteocat stations with more than twenty years of data reached their absolute heat record yesterday.

Yesterday, temperatures soared, especially in the northeast, on the coast, and in the pre-coastal areas, due to the warm south wind. The highest figures were reached in Ponent, the southern interior, and Alt Empordà, where temperatures exceeded 42°C. The maximum of 44.1°C in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre) stands out, the highest figure of the year so far. This Wednesday has been by far the hottest day of the summer, with 40°C recorded in many regions.

This Thursday, the mercury will drop a degree or so, but extreme heat will continue everywhere. For this reason, Meteocat maintains generalized alerts for intense heat. On Friday and over the weekend, thermometers will drop, and we will breathe a little easier. However, the scorching weather will continue, and next week the heatwave will intensify, and the most extreme values will return.

Thursday: extreme heat continues

The night and early morning have been warm in many places, especially on the coast and pre-coast, where many minimums have been tropical and torrid, and even scorching in the north of Alt Empordà. Temperatures also did not drop below 20°C in much of the interior. It has been the most oppressive night of the episode so far, as nighttime temperatures will drop in the coming nights. The exception has been found in the valleys of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees and other low-lying areas, where it has been quite cool and minimums have even dropped below 10°C in some cases, with a marked thermal contrast between day and night.

Regarding maximums, they will decrease slightly in some cases. But the decrease will be slight and imperceptible, as the extraordinary heat will continue everywhere. In fact, Meteocat maintains alerts for intense heat throughout the territory, with red alerts – the maximum level – still in effect in Ponent, on the Barcelona coast, and in several counties of Girona. Many maximums of 37 to 42°C will be repeated in the interior and pre-coast, higher in Ponent and the Ebro region, and on the coast, temperatures will also widely exceed 35°C, especially on the central coast and the Costa Brava.

All in all with radiant sun and, as has already happened the last two days, irregular afternoon showers in parts of the Pyrenees, and perhaps of the Pre-Pyrenees and between the Ports and southern Lleida, which may bring strong gusts of wind. In addition, in the afternoon the sea breeze from the south will blow again, with moderate gusts. In short, the risk of fire will remain very high.

A brief respite, but the heatwave continues

Between Friday and the weekend, temperatures will drop and we will breathe a little better. It will continue to be very hot, but the extreme values of these last few hours will not be reached by a long shot. In fact, it will hardly reach 40°C anywhere, but with nights that will continue to be scorching.

All of this will be temporary, as we will remain under the influence of the North African gust and immersed in a heatwave that next week will pick up again, with values again above 40°C. Some meteorological models even indicate that the next torrid peak could be worse than what we are experiencing this week. A situation that we will have to follow closely.

It would not be until the end of next week – already in the second half of July – when thermometers could clearly drop. For the moment, no significant rain is in sight, and in many regions it has not rained for weeks.