Pure spring: showers, wind, and unusual coolness in May

BarcelonaWe are already halfway through May, but the atmosphere on Thursday and especially on Friday will be more typical of early spring than of these dates. We continue immersed in a corridor of polar northerly winds that, in addition to bringing coolness, maintains marked instability. On Thursday, rain is expected in the northeast and in the Pyrenees, and on Friday a new front will bring more showers and storms and will cause temperatures to bottom out, with values between 3 and 8 degrees below average. Too cool for the season, which will continue through the weekend, although with fewer showers. However, next week thermometers will rise again. All this after showers have been more local and concentrated in the northeast this Wednesday, with 7 l/m² falling in the city of Girona. In any case, nothing like the strong storms, hailstorms, and sleet on Tuesday in many regions (you will find the most outstanding data and images from Tuesday's episode at the end of this information).

Thursday: rain in the north and wind in the south

Gray and rainy Thursday in the northeast, especially in Alt Empordà, Rosselló, Alta Garrotxa, and Alt Ripollès, where precipitation will be falling and locally abundant, in some cases with thunderstorms. Showers will also fall in other regions of Girona, northern Barcelona, and the Pyrenees, mostly in the afternoon. On the northern Pyrenean side, the sky will be more overcast with snow between 1,800 and 2,000 m. The atmosphere will be very cool in all these northern areas of the country, while Meteocat has activated an alert for local accumulations of more than 100 l/m² in 24 hours in Alt Empordà.

On the other hand, in the southern half and in Ponent, sun will dominate, with a moderate wind from mistral to poniente, with some strong gusts. North of Empordà, tramuntana will blow, and east wind in the rest of the northeast. Quite calm also in the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands, although in the morning there will be some scattered showers between Mallorca and Menorca, and in the afternoon between the regions of Castellón and Valencia.

Quite fresh in the morning and many lower maximums, although they will rise slightly on the central coast. Values of 17 to 23 °C in many cases, but below 20 °C in the northeast and Pyrenees, and locally up to 24 or 25 °C in the south. In any case, heat well under control everywhere.

New front Friday

The passage of a new front on Friday will cause a new thermal slump, and a large part of Catalonia will remain below 20 °C. A very cool atmosphere, unusual for this time of year, as we will have values more typical of early spring, between 3 and 8 degrees below average. And the mercury will remain well suppressed over the weekend, although the highs will gradually rise. The early mornings will be cold, with frosts that will hardly leave the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees. Therefore, the farmers should not be harmed.

On Friday, showers and storms will regain ground, especially in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees, the regions of Girona and Barcelona, the Valencian Country, and the Balearic Islands. The north wind will blow at the extremes, while the weekend will be calmer. Next week, it seems that the anticyclone will settle in our area again, with more calm and a clear rise in thermometers.

Review of the downpours and storms

Instability soared on Tuesday, with a new round of showers and strong, irregular afternoon storms in many areas. In some cases, there were real downpours accompanied by hail or small stones, such as on the coast and pre-coast of Barcelona, in the Ebro, and in parts of the Girona and Lleida regions. The city of Barcelona itself was whitened by the ice that fell in the mid-afternoon. The most notable records range between 15 and 50 l/m², with special emphasis on the 54 l/m² from Sant Pau de Segúries (Ripollès) and Monistrol de Montserrat (Bages), the 53 l/m² from Montserrat, or the 37 l/m² from Rellinars and Castellbisbal (Vallès Occidental), from Hostalets de Pierola (Anoia), and from Roses (Alt Empordà). Many of these liters fell in a few minutes and caused some isolated incidents. There were also landslides in the Montserrat area that trapped two cars on the B-112 without causing injuries.