The passage of a cold front will bring more rain and snow to the entire Pyrenees

Sunday morning and midday were marked by a break in the weather, with plenty of clear skies, after the torrential rain that affected some areas on Saturday (you'll find details of this event at the end of this report). Astronomical winter, which began at 4:03 PM, is bringing a new change in the weather due to the passage of a cold front and the formation of a small low-pressure system off the Catalan coast. This will bring snowfall to much of the Pyrenees mountain range during Sunday night and Monday morning. Furthermore, we'll see a significant drop in temperatures over the next few days.

Night and early morning: extensive snowfall in the Pyrenees

Rain will intensify from tonight through the night, affecting virtually every region, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country. We're talking about a steady downpour lasting for hours, tending to move eastward and becoming confined to the Pyrenees by Monday morning. In addition, the snow level will drop to around 800 meters during the early hours, leaving snow in the valleys of the Pyrenees.

Monday: Partly cloudy

We'll start the week with much calmer and more stable weather, at least temporarily, although there will still be some rain in the eastern half of the region during the early hours, and intermittent snowfall will continue in the Pyrenees. Clear skies will prevail during the morning, with sunshine appearing in many areas, but there will be intervals of high and mid-level clouds, harmless almost everywhere. Temperatures will drop significantly, both day and night, with highs 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 frost at mid and high elevations in the Pyrenees.

Busy and cold Christmas week

The passage of this front will cause a significant drop in temperatures on Monday, bringing cold, wintry conditions as a colder-than-usual air mass moves in. Temperatures will fluctuate throughout the week, but will generally remain below average for this time of year, with frost inland and unseasonably warm afternoons due to the lack of sunshine. Therefore, we can expect a very cold Christmas week, with considerable uncertainty regarding precipitation.

The anticyclone will remain anchored over central and northern Europe, causing low-pressure systems and pockets of cold air to circulate over our region. Depending on the final position of these systems, we will experience varying amounts of precipitation and cold. We will also see what happens with the snow level, as snowfall is possible below 1,000 meters, even on Christmas Day. This highly uncertain situation requires close monitoring.

Summary of the weekend's downpours

The rain began to fall during the afternoon and evening of Friday, concentrated along the central coast and pre-coastal areas and in the eastern half of the region. However, it was during the morning and midday of Saturday 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. At official automatic weather stations, rainfall totals reached 77 l/m² in Badalona, ​​64 l/m² in Granollers, 60 l/m² in Mataró, and 54 l/m² in La Roca del Vallès. Unofficial stations located in the southern part of Vallès Occidental, however, recorded amounts exceeding 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. Rainfall totals of between 10 and 40 l/m² are frequently recorded along much of the central coast and pre-coastal area, as well as in the interior of Girona, and also in parts of central Catalonia—welcome news after a very dry start to December.