Unusually hot weather soars again this weekend

BarcelonaThe heat remains mild, but unusually summery, with more muggy conditions and low clouds along the coast. And beware, because temperatures will soar again this weekend, especially today, when they could reach 38°C in the West and 35°C in other inland areas. Extreme heat will also be felt in Mallorca, where temperatures could reach 37 or 38°C. All this brings with it the risk of locally strong showers and storms both tonight and next night in the west—especially in the Pyrenees and western Pre-Pyrenees—and variability both today and tomorrow, but with little rain in sight. The heat will continue and may even intensify next week (you'll find the full heat report at the end of this article).

Saturday: new heat peak

Temperatures will soar again this Saturday. Many highs of 30 to 35°C are expected on the pre-coastal and inland areas, and even in some coastal areas, temperatures will hover around 30°C. The mercury will rise the most in the West, where it could reach 38°C again. And pay attention to the island of Mallorca, because there will also be a scorching peak of up to 37 or 38°C. Extreme heat worthy of the worst days of the summer heat wave, which is obviously completely out of place considering we're only in mid-June, a week away from the official arrival of astronomical summer.

Dust from the Sahara will remain suspended, and early in the morning there will be some fog at both ends of the coast. Calm will prevail for much of the day, with only one cloud occasionally clouded by thin clouds and dust. In the morning, some low clouds or fog will reappear along sections of the coast. From the afternoon onwards, but especially in the evening and at night, dark clouds will move in from the west, bringing showers and thunderstorms from Aragon well into the night. They will mainly affect the northern Ponent region and the southern face of the Pyrenees and the Lleida Pre-Pyrenees, and will be locally heavy, with some hail or sleet possible. Showers or mud showers are not ruled out in the rest of the western half and the Pyrenees, especially at night. In the evening, a line of showers and thunderstorms will move in from the west and the Alt Pirineu, with hail and even hail locally possible. During the early hours, they could reach the coast itself.

Sunday: very hot

Low clouds are expected along the coast early in the day, with a somewhat cloudy sky in the northern third, where there will be some light showers in parts of the Pyrenees and western Pre-Pyrenees. By mid-morning, the weather will finally clear up, with generally clear skies.

Temperatures will drop slightly, especially in the north of the country. However, this will be a subtle drop, as it will continue to be very hot, with highs of 31 to 36°C in much of the inland and pre-coastal areas, and somewhat higher in the West. A stifling midsummer atmosphere will be expected with tropical nights and markedly muggy conditions along the coast. Minimum temperatures, in many coastal areas, will not drop below 23°C. Sunshine will combine with bands of high, thin clouds, and in the afternoon, dark clouds will again grow in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, bringing some local showers, especially in the west.

More heat next week

Far from ending, the heat will continue into next week, even reaching a new peak between Tuesday and Wednesday. Unbridled heat in a month that has been extraordinarily hot. It looks like we'll be heading into the Sant Joan long weekend with relatively calm weather and above-average temperatures, although they could drop slightly.

Heat Report

On Thursday, temperatures dropped, and despite the intense heat, they did not reach the extremes of recent days. This situation remained unchanged on Friday. During these two days, most highs ranged between 27 and 33°C, and only 35°C was reached or exceeded inland in the Ebro, in Ponent, and inland in the Alt Empordà. The mercury rose the most in the Segrià region, with up to 36.5°C in the city of Lleida.

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. This was very extreme heat for the time of year. However, the arrival of dark 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 noteworthy are the tropical lows, which have eased after being repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday in several locations, including inland areas, especially at higher elevations. Fabra also did not drop below 22.8°C on Thursday night, and Montserrat reached 21.4°C, while at lower elevations it was cooler.