Showers and thunderstorms will gain strength and extent today

BarcelonaAfter a long weekend with many clouds and irregular showers, this first week of May starts with even more unsettled weather. A cold air mass at high altitude, with values close to -25 ºC at 5,500 m altitude, will increase instability. Showers and storms will gain strength and extent this Monday and can appear practically anywhere, especially in the afternoon and evening, and particularly inland. Locally, hailstorms or some hail can occur. And the meteorological situation will continue to be unsettled in the coming days, with the passage of new frontal lines that will keep the sky cloudy and showers. Temperatures will be kept in check, and in the Pyrenees, storms will leave snow at altitudes close to 2,000 m. Throughout Sunday, showers left around 5 l/m² in Ponent, between 10 and 15 in the interior of Montsià and few liters or scattered drops in many other places. But the most significant accumulations were concentrated in the Pyrenees, with up to 32 l/m² in Espot (2,400 m), 23 in Boí (2,500 m), 19 in Ulldeter (2,413 m), 16 in Nuria (1971 m) or 15 in el Pont de Suert.

Uncertain start to the week with new showers

Instability will remain thanks to the presence of a small pocket of cold air at high altitude that will feed the growth of clouds and will be the cause of a Monday with more widespread and intense showers and thunderstorms. During the early morning, precipitation has fallen in Ponent, and throughout the morning the showers will be concentrated mainly on the southern face of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, especially in Lleida. The sky will remain variable or generally overcast, and from mid-morning, clouds will grow with intensity and will bring the first showers. It will be during the afternoon when the showers and thunderstorms will reactivate and fall heavily in any part of the pre-littoral, interior, Pre-Pyrenees, Pyrenees, and Ebro. Locally, downpours accompanied by hail or sleet may occur. At sunset, rain may also arrive in a weaker form in coastal areas, especially at both ends. Meteocat has activated the alert for intense rain that leaves more than 20 l/m² in half an hour in many regions on Monday and Tuesday:

The temperature will remain subdued and rather cool, although maximums may rise slightly temporarily. Many values will again range between 17 and 22 ºC in many regions, locally higher to the south and in Ponent. The thermometer will drop further towards Tuesday. Therefore, this start to May will have nothing to do with the extraordinarily warm April we have had.

Every day a lightning bolt

The instability will remain pronounced in the coming days, with new showers and storms. On Tuesday, they will mainly affect points of the pre-littoral, the Ebro, the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, but again some may arrive more weakened to the coast and in other inland areas. And this will be the dynamic for a large part of the week, with irregular downpours that will keep repeating. A typically spring situation that will make the saying true in May, every day a downpour.