The heatwave will end suddenly this weekend

BarcelonaTemperatures have risen even further in the last few hours. Heat out of place for the dates, and today the first 30 ºC of this year have finally been reached and surpassed in our region, specifically in the Ponent and Ebro areas. Notable are the 31.9 ºC recorded at the Riba-roja reservoir and the 31.1 in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre), the 30.7 in Aldover (Baix Ebre), the 30.6 in Seròs (Segrià), the 30.1 in Benissanet (Ribera d’Ebre), and the 30 in Torroja del Priorat. A figure that this year has been reached almost a month earlier than last year, when the first 30 ºC arrived on May 3rd. According to information from Meteocat, if we establish a ranking of the day on which the maximum temperature of 30 ºC was first reached in Catalonia over the last twenty years, based on data from the organism's stations, this Thursday, April 9th, would be in fifth position. As explained in a statement by Aleix Serra Uró, head of Meteocat's data quality control team, "we are facing an unusual but not exceptional situation".

It has also been very hot in the northeast, with maximums that locally have exceeded 28 ºC. Friday will maintain the very warm weather, with sun and coastal fogs that will keep thermometers more restrained in the coastal strip. But changes will arrive on the weekend. The approach of a cold air mass and an Atlantic front will cause an increase in cloud intervals from west to east throughout Saturday, with the first showers in the Pyrenees and in the west at sunset. On Sunday, we will have a radical change in weather, with a significant cooling, north wind, and showers in various counties.

Friday: very hot

This Friday, intense heat atypical for the season will persist, with an atmosphere more characteristic of late spring or early summer. We will even add a few more degrees, especially regarding the minimum temperatures, with little morning cold. Most of the maximum temperatures will range between 25 ºC and 30 ºC in the pre-coastal areas and inland.

One more day, temperatures will be more moderated and some fogs will appear on the coast due to the effect of a still cold sea. In general, the sun will dominate, with a sky clouded by the presence of suspended dust coming from North Africa.

Weather change on the weekend

Saturday will still be a very warm day, but thermometers will begin to drop inland and in the Pyrenees. Throughout the day, cloud intervals will increase from west to east, and in the afternoon the first showers may arrive in the Pyrenees and Poniente. The snowline will fall rapidly from an initial 2,400 m to 1,400 m.

All this will be the prelude to a pocket of cold air that by Sunday will abruptly return us to early spring. The cooling will be very significant, and we will go from being between 7 and 12 degrees above average these days to being even slightly below. All this with a north wind at the extremes and irregular showers in various regions. In the Pyrenees, the snowline may fall to 1,000 m, locally below.