The long-awaited refreshing arrives this weekend

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

The cooling will be more generally noticeable, especially on Sunday, with bearable and normalized daytime heat, and cooler, more pleasant nights. Instability will also increase, with afternoon showers and storms that can 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

Temperatures will drop throughout this Saturday. The drop 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 maestral wind will cause a transient heat peak with maximums around 35 ºC. In this area, alerts are still active for intense heat.

But elsewhere the thermometer will drop, and 40 ºC will no longer be reached anywhere. Even some minimums can be recorded at the end of the day. All this with north wind at the extremes that will strengthen, and especially 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 with vigor, with showers and thunderstorms, which can be strong and accompanied by hail or sleet between the afternoon and night. They will mainly affect points in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees, northeast and central and northern pre-coastal areas, as well as the Ports. At night and in the early morning, downpours can reach points on 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 on Sunday. The night will be cooler overall, and tropical lows will be concentrated near the sea. Highs will be significantly curbed, with very bearable heat and nothing like the extreme values of recent weeks. In parts of the Pyrenees and inland, highs will be between 6 and 11 degrees lower than on Thursday.

Most of the highest highs will range between 27 and 33 ºC. In mountain areas, the cool atmosphere will persist all day, and on the coast, the mugginess will also ease. A luxurious atmosphere, considering where we're coming 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 storms 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 start to rise, but still far from extremes. It will be from Wednesday that the thermometers will shoot up again above average and intense heat will return. So let's take advantage of the brief respite we will have these days.