Start of Holy Week with winds, temperatures under control, and snow in the Pyrenees

BarcelonaThe change in weather over the last few hours has caused a clear drop in temperatures, strong gusts of wind in the extremities of the country and a bit of snow on the northern face of the Pyrenees, with blizzards at high altitudes. Speeds exceeding 100 km/h have been recorded in the Ebro region, the Pyrenean peaks, and Empordà (you will find the most significant data on the wind gusts at the end of this information). And in the coming days, thermometers will be kept in check and the north wind will persist, as the anticyclone located in the Atlantic will keep the corridor of cold wind coming from Central Europe towards our home open.

On Friday and Saturday, the highs will rise slightly, but the approach of a new cold front will cause new snowfall in the Pyrenees on the weekend, as well as strong and more widespread wind on Sunday. Therefore, the start of Holy Week will be unsettled, but it seems that next week the situation will improve, especially as the key days approach when many people have holidays.

Friday: quite a profitable day

This Friday we wake up to a cold atmosphere everywhere. There are frosts in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, but also in other mountainous areas and in parts of the interior of the northern half and Poniente. We will have to see if the setback to winter these days has any effect on the peasantry. At noon, the maximums will rise a little, but they will be kept in check, with many values between 13 and 18 °C, locally higher in the south, and clearly lower in mountainous areas.

The tramontana will remain intense in Empordà and on the peaks of the Pyrenees, here with blizzards. The mistral will be strong until the morning in the Ebro and nearby areas, but it will decrease throughout the day. Meteocat maintains activated alerts for strong winds in the north of the country which may again leave gusts of more than 90 km/h, locally more than 100 km/h. There are also alerts for strong surf on the Costa Brava.

The sun will dominate in general, with only a few decorative touches of thin clouds. There will only be remnants of some intervals of harmless clouds between Girona and Barcelona, as well as in the Pyrenees, without ruling out some local snow showers on the northern face.

Busy weekend

The passage of a new cold front will mark the weekend weather. Saturday will be a very sunny day in most regions, but the Pyrenees will become increasingly cloudy and the snowfall will reactivate, with a snowline that will drop from 1,200 to 800 m. The wind will abate temporarily at the extremes, without completely disappearing.

But beware of Palm Sunday, as the strong wind will be very intense in the Pyrenees, throughout Empordà and in the south, but it will also arrive with force in many other regions. Therefore, the wind will blow quite generally, be careful. It will also snow at all altitudes in the Pyrenees, especially on the north face, and some showers will fall in parts of the northeast and the coast. Temperatures will drop and the atmosphere will be more wintery than spring-like.

Next week will still begin with wind at the extremes and a bit of instability. But as the days go by, the situation will improve and temperatures will clearly rise. Therefore, we will reach the key days of Holy Week with much more tranquility.

Balance of strong winds

The strong winds this Thursday have mainly affected the south of the country, the Empordà and the peaks of the Pyrenees. Speeds have widely exceeded 100 km/h on some occasions. There have been some incidents, but none have been significant. In the Pyrenees, the phenomenon of blizzard has occurred. This is the summary of the strongest wind gusts in the last few hours.

• 148 km/h: Portbou
• 120 km/h: el Perelló
• 119 km/h: Darnius - Boadella Reservoir
• 98 km/h: Mas de Barberans
• 97 km/h: Sant Pere Pescador
• 93 km/h: Roses
• 92 km/h: PN of the Ports
• 85 km/h: La Bisbal d'Empordà
• 83 km/h: Organyà
• 82 km/h: Miami Platja