We will still have to sweat hard this weekend

BarcelonaAlthough the heatwave has technically ended and we've gone two days without reaching 40 ºC in Catalonia, the truth is that the heat remains very intense everywhere. Today there was a torrid peak in the northeast where, as happened in Ponent, 38 ºC were reached, in Girona municipalities such as Cabanes, la Bisbal d'Empordà or the Danrius-Boadella reservoir. A suffocating atmosphere with marked humidity on the coast, which will continue throughout this last weekend of June, with values still more than five degrees above average in many cases. All this with sun, calm and only afternoon showers on Sunday in the Pyrenees. We continue under the effects of the anticyclonic ridge and the irruption of very warm air and suspended dust from North Africa. The main event of the heatwave continues to hit Europe and is currently located in the center of the continent, where new records are expected throughout the weekend. Next week the thermometers will drop, but the latest maps reduce the possibility of a significant cool-down.

Saturday: sun and very hot

Temperatures will undergo few changes on the first day of the weekend. Therefore, the night will again be mild to warm in many regions, with tropical lows in many places and some torrid ones, especially in the city of Barcelona. To find cool nights, we will have to go mainly to the valleys of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees and nearby areas.

Maximum temperatures will be similar to Friday's, with intense heat. Sultry conditions and values above 30 ºC on the coast, and from 34 ºC to 38 ºC inland, the highest in Ponent and the Ebro interior. All this with sun, calm, and dust in suspension. There may only be some low clouds or morning mists in stretches of the coast – especially the Ebro – and harmless afternoon clouds in the Pyrenees.

Sunday: afternoon showers in the Pyrenees

The novelty this Sunday will be that in the afternoon showers will reappear in parts of the Pyrenees, especially the western part. It is also not ruled out that some shower may arrive in Ponent from Aragon in the late afternoon. Nuances in a context of calm and sun throughout the country, as well as heat.

It will once again be a very warm and muggy day, with maximums even rising higher in the south. We will touch 39 ºC or locally 40 ºC between the interior of the Ebro and Ponent, with many maximums of 34 ºC to 38 ºC inland, and again above 30 ºC on the coast, where the atmosphere will be heavy. On the other hand, where it rains in the afternoon, the mercury will drop suddenly.

Heat increasingly less extreme

Looking ahead to next week, thermometers will start to drop, especially towards Wednesday. The weakening of the warm North African air mass will allow for this drop in mercury. But everything seems to indicate that this thermal drop will be less significant than what the forecasts of the last few days suggested.

A situation that we will have to follow closely, as, for now, it seems that it will be difficult for thermometers to fully normalize. All this with afternoon showers that will gain ground in the northern half of the country.