The awaited refreshment arrives this weekend

BarcelonaYesterday we experienced the last day of extreme heat of the week. Temperatures dropped inland, but still reached 38 or 39°C in Ponent, the Tremp basin, or the Pre-Pyrenees. It will be this weekend – the last of July – when the arrival of a clearly colder air mass will sweep away the warm bubble and the suspended African dust, with a north wind and a clear drop in thermometers.

The cooling will be noticed more generally, especially on Sunday, with bearable and normalized heat during the day, and cooler, more pleasant nights. Instability will also increase, with afternoon showers and thunderstorms that could be strong and accompanied by hail or sleet. But let's take advantage of this brief respite, because by the middle of next week, intense heat will return.

Saturday: more moderate heat and storms, but with sultriness on the coast

Temperatures will be dropping throughout this Saturday. However, the early morning was still difficult to sleep through along the coast, with minimums that did not drop below 27.5°C in the city of Barcelona and high humidity. But, as forecasts indicate, the thermal decrease is imminent and will be significant in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, moderate inland and lighter on the coast, where for much of the day there will still be few changes, with heat and mugginess. The exception will be found on the coast of Tarragona, where the re-heated mistral wind will cause a transient heat peak with maximums around 35°C. In this area, there are still alerts activated for intense heat.

But elsewhere the thermometer will be dropping, and 40°C will no longer be reached anywhere. Some minimums can even be recorded at the end of the day. All this with a northerly wind in the extremities that will be strengthening, and above all, more instability.

The sun will dominate in the morning, but the clash of cold air at altitude and so much accumulated heat will make clouds grow eagerly, with showers and storms, which can be strong and accompanied by hail or sleet between the afternoon and night. They will mainly affect parts of the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees, northeast and central and northern coastal areas, as well as Els Ports. At night and in the early morning, downpours may reach parts of the coast and pre-coastal areas of Barcelona and northern Tarragona. Meteocat has activated the alert for intense rain in several counties.

Sunday: general refresh

Temperatures will hit rock bottom tomorrow. The night will be cooler overall and tropical lows will be concentrated near the sea. Maximums will be greatly curbed, with very bearable heat and nothing to do with the extreme values of recent weeks. In parts of the Pyrenees and inland, maximums will be between 6 and 11 degrees lower than Thursday.

Most of the highest maximums will range between 27 and 33°C. In mountainous areas, the cool atmosphere will be maintained all day, and on the coast, the mugginess will also subside. A luxurious atmosphere, considering where we come from.

Regarding the state of the sky, the sun will dominate in most regions, but after the showers that will fall until night, new ones will appear in the afternoon in parts of the Pyrenees and eastern Pre-Pyrenees and between Girona and Barcelona. It is not ruled out that some storm may be locally intense. The mistral and tramuntana wind will blow moderately to strongly in Empordà and Ebre.

On Monday, the bearable heat will still be maintained. On Tuesday, the temperature will begin to rise, but still far from extremes. It will be from Wednesday that the thermometers will once again skyrocket above average and the intense heat will return. So we should take advantage of the brief respite we will have these days.