Unsettled and cold winter weather to start Christmas week
The snow level will drop to 800 meters throughout Monday
The weather will remain unsettled today, following the weekend rains and the recent downpours. The cold front that crossed the country overnight and into the early hours has brought precipitation to much of Spain. Accumulations of between 5 and 15 liters per square meter have been recorded in many areas, but these figures have already been exceeded on the Costa Brava. In contrast, there has been practically no rain towards the west and the Ebro River. Snowfall is widespread throughout the Pyrenees, with the snow level fluctuating considerably depending on the area. During the morning, precipitation will become concentrated in the northeast and the Pyrenees, where it will continue to fall for much of the day, with the snow level generally settling around 800 meters. Temperatures have dropped sharply, and today will be a cold, wintry day. It's the first full day of winter, which kicked off at 4:03 PM. We're starting a Christmas week that will be wintry and busy.
Monday: Partly cloudy
Let's start the week with unsettled weather. Rain will still fall this morning in the Barcelona, Girona, Pyrenees, and Pre-Pyrenees regions. The snow level is around 900 meters in the western Pyrenees, but fluctuates between 1,000 and 1,400 meters in the rest of the mountain range and the country. However, it has dropped lower at times, and snow has been seen in the Prades Mountains, for example, as well as in Montseny. In any case, it will settle around 800 meters throughout the day. As the day progresses, the rain will concentrate in the northeast and the Pyrenees, where it will continue until mid-afternoon. The rain will stop elsewhere, while large clearings will appear in the southern half of the country, where the sun will eventually dominate.
A cold, midwinter day, with northerly winds in the extremes. A clear drop in temperatures, both minimum and maximum, with midday values between 11°C and 14°C on the coast, 7°C to 11°C inland, and below 5°C or 6°C in the Pyrenean capitals, with widespread frosts at mid and high elevations in the Pyrenees.
Tuesday: Remnants of instability and cold weather
The weather will remain unsettled due to the proximity of the disturbance, which will bring clouds and some showers concentrated in the north and northeast. Temperatures will remain low, similar to Monday's, keeping the snow level around 800 or 900 meters and bringing more snow to mid and high elevations in the northern half of the country.
A busy and cold Christmas week
Throughout the week, temperatures will fluctuate, but will generally remain below average for this time of year, with widespread frosts inland (and intense frosts in the Pyrenees) and unseasonably cold afternoons due to the lack of sunshine typical of late December. Therefore, we can expect a very cold Christmas week, with much uncertainty surrounding the precipitation, which seems likely to be present almost every day.
The anticyclone will remain anchored over central and northern Europe, causing low-pressure systems and pockets of cold air to circulate across the region. Depending on the final position of these systems, with the presence of low pressure in the Gulf of Lion, we will experience varying amounts of precipitation and cold temperatures. All of this will occur with a fairly low snow level, below 1,000 meters.
Summary of the weekend's downpours
Beyond this morning's weather front, the weekend's episode of rain and downpours stands out. Rain began falling during Friday afternoon and evening, concentrated along the central coast and pre-coastal areas and in the eastern half of the region. However, it was during Saturday morning and midday that the heaviest rainfall occurred in some areas, especially in the lower reaches of the Besòs River and the rest of the central coast and pre-coastal areas. Official automatic weather stations recorded 77 l/m² in Badalona, 64 l/m² in Granollers, 60 l/m² in Mataró, and 54 l/m² in La Roca del Vallès. At unofficial weather stations in southern Vallès, however, rainfall totals exceeded 100 l/m², such as 136 l/m² in Martorelles and 137 l/m² in Sant Fost de Campsentelles. During the early hours of Sunday morning, the rain was concentrated in the Girona region, with 42 l/m² in Cassà de la Selva and 34 l/m² in Cabanes. Overall, these regions received significant rainfall, which continued in recent hours with a new weather front, following a very dry start to December.