The easterly winds will bring rain and heavy snow until tonight.

BarcelonaToday we'll see the last vestiges of the easterly winds. Rain has been abundant in many regions, heavy snowfall is blanketing the eastern Pyrenees, and rough seas have forced the closure of beach areas in some municipalities along the central and northern coast. The highest rainfall totals of this episode have already exceeded 120 liters per square meter.²And there are still a few hours of rain left (you'll find more details at the end of this report). If you're hoping to see some sunshine, you'll have to wait until Sunday or Monday, when the skies will definitely clear and the rain will finally stop, making this second half of December one of the wettest in recent decades.

Saturday: the storm refuses to leave

On Saturday, heavy rainfall will continue in some areas, especially along the coast and in the eastern half of the region, where locally rainfall will again exceed 50 or 100 liters per square meter. A maritime storm, which will tend to weaken, will still be significant along the coast. Throughout the morning, heavy showers, possibly accompanied by thunderstorms, will occur, particularly along the southern coast and pre-coastal areas. Rainfall could exceed 30 liters per square meter.² In half an hour.

The rainfall totals will be very high again, and throughout the day (next 24 hours) they may exceed 100 mm around Els Ports de Tortosa..As we have been reminding you these past few days, you must be very careful if you pass near rivers, avoiding crossing streams and flood-prone areas.

The rains will also affect the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands, as the storm moves south across the peninsula and north into Morocco. This will be accompanied by heavy snowfall in the eastern Pyrenees, with accumulations exceeding one to one and a half meters in this part of the mountain range. Rivers and streams will maintain very high flows due to the soil's limited capacity to retain so much water in such a short time.

In this regard, the Meteorological Service of Catalonia has issued warnings for various weather phenomena. Rainfall accumulations could exceed 200 l/m² in 24 hours in the northeast of the region, while a yellow warning for heavy rainfall is in effect for the entire Catalan coast and pre-coastal areas.

The rough seas have also triggered an orange alert along the entire coastline, where waves exceeding 2.5 meters in height are expected. Strong easterly and northeasterly winds are forecast along the entire coast, particularly during the middle of the day. The wind warning is in effect between the Barcelonès and Tarragonès regions.

Finally, the snow warning only affects Berguedà, Cerdanya, and, at a higher level of danger, Ripollès, where more than 50 centimeters of new snow will accumulate above 2,000 meters. The degree of avalanche danger It is strong (4 out of 5) in the Ter-Freser, on the northern slope of the Cadí-Moixeró, in the Pre-Pyrenees and in the eastern half of the Perafita-Puigpedrós.

Sunday: opening of clearings

The weather is expected to improve significantly towards the end of the weekend, with rainfall weakening and becoming confined to the far south, coastal areas, and especially the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands. Sunshine will increase, although it won't be a sunny day. The weather will be milder in the western Pyrenees and the west, with slightly cooler temperatures in the early morning. Sea conditions will be much more normal along the Catalan coast, with a moderate swell, while remaining somewhat rough along the coasts of Valencia and Castellón.

Provisional balance of the storm

The easterly winds, which began on Christmas Day, have brought rainfall totals exceeding 100 l/m² in some parts of the country, such as Cantonigròs (168 l/m²), Viladrau (123 l/m²), Molló (150 l/m²), Olot (110 l/m²) or Miami Playa, in Mont-roig del Camp (119 l/m²).²Rain has fallen across the country, although rainfall totals have generally ranged between 20 and 50 liters per square meter in the eastern half and along the coast, and between 1 liter and 5-10 liters per square meter in the western part of the country and the western Pyrenees. Snowfall has accumulated to a depth of over half a meter in Vallter (70 cm of fresh snow as of this morning). Waves at the Begur headland buoy have reached 9.75 meters.