The heat continues: a new scorching peak this weekend

BarcelonaTemperatures dropped a bit yesterday, especially in the areas where they soared the most on Wednesday, namely on the Barcelona coast and pre-coastline and in Central Catalonia (you'll find the most important data from the extraordinary heat wave at the end of this report). The heat has eased, but it has remained intense and summer-like, and this situation will continue for several more days. Even on Saturday, there will be another peak of warmth that will once again send the mercury up to 38°C or more in the West. All this with more changeable skies, muggy conditions on the coast, more tropical nights, and the risk of some showers or storms in the west and the Pyrenees.

Friday: hot and some showers

Temperatures will show little change this Friday compared to Thursday, with a warm, unusually summer-like atmosphere, without the extremes of recent days. There have been several tropical lows—above 20°C—overnight on the coast, but also in some areas of the pre-coastal and southern inland areas. Most highs will range between 27°C and 33°C, although in the West they will again fall between 35°C and 37°C.

Low clouds and fog have increased in parts of the coast during the early hours of the morning, continuing into the early hours. This increases the feeling of muggy conditions. Sunshine will dominate most regions during the first half of the day, while in the afternoon there will be more clouds in the western half and in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, bringing some irregular showers and thunderstorms accompanied by mud. These showers will mainly affect the northern Ponent region and the southern face of the Lleida Pyrenees in the evening and at night, and may be strong at local levels and accompanied by gales, hail, or thunderstorms. The afternoon will generally be cloudier due to the passing of cloud bands. For another day, suspended dust will result in earthy sunrises and sunsets and a chalky sky.

New warm peak to start the weekend

On Saturday, temperatures will rise again, especially in the pre-coastal and inland areas, with many highs of 30 to 35°C. But towards the west, temperatures will again reach or locally exceed 38°C. Very intense, dog-eat-dog heat, completely out of character for mid-June. Sunday will remain very warm and fully summery, but the mercury will drop slightly in the north of the country.

It will be sunny, combined with some cloud bands and a risk of afternoon showers in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees, and nearby areas, especially in the northwest. There will be little rain in sight overall, and suspended dust will remain persistent in our country. And the maps indicate that next week will again be very warm, with the possibility of another scorching peak. In fact, as the following map shows, temperatures will continue to hover around or above 20°C at an altitude of 1,500 m in the coming days, levels uncharacteristic of mid-June and worthy of the summer heat.

Heat balance

On Thursday, temperatures dropped, and despite the intense heat, they did not reach the extremes of recent days. Most highs ranged between 27 and 33°C, with temperatures only reaching or exceeding 35°C inland and Ponent, where they narrowly missed reaching 37°C. The highest values of the day were 36.9°C in Alcarràs and 36.7°C in Lleida and Torres de Segre (Segrià).

Temperatures reached their peak on Wednesday in many regions, especially on the Barcelona coast and pre-coastal areas and in Central Catalonia, where temperatures reached 37 or 38°C locally. Even in the city of Barcelona itself, temperatures exceeded 33°C. Extreme heat, completely out of character and extraordinary for the first half of June. However, the arrival of storm clouds prevented temperatures from rising as high as they did on Tuesday in Ponent, where they barely reached 35 or 36 °C, far from the more than 38 °C. The exception was Artesa de Segre (Noguera), where there was a brief scorching peak of up to 38.4 °C, which turned out to be the highest maximum in the entire state. Tuesday and Wednesday were the hottest days of the year. These are the most notable maximum values from a stifling Wednesday:

• 38.4 °C, Artesa de Segre
• 38 ºC, Artes
• 37.7 ºC, the Canós
• 37.5 ºC, Caldes de Montbui
• 37.4 ºC, Oliana
• 37.4 ºC, Castellbisbal
• 37.4 ºC, Oliola
• 37.3 ºC, Baldomar
• 37.2 ºC, Tàrrega
• 37.2 ºC, Parets del Vallès
• 37 ºC, Vallirana
• 36.9 ºC, Massoteras
• 36.6 ºC, La Pobla de Segur
• 36.2 ºC, Sabadell

Also worth noting are the tropical lows, which have lost ground after being repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday in several locations, including inland, especially in high elevations. However, the coast is where the most lows above 20°C have been recorded, particularly in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​where the low was 23.5°C on Thursday, but close to 24°C on Tuesday. The Fabra Observatory also did not drop below 22.8°C on Thursday night, and Montserrat Mountain reached 21.4°C, while at lower altitudes it was cooler. Cities such as Lleida and Girona experienced their first tropical night early Tuesday morning, but both Wednesday and Thursday saw a further cooling off at night.