Although no one would know it when they see the clear skies this Wednesday, we are one day away from an important change in weather due to the arrival of successive Atlantic storms and masses of cold air that will give rise to a new mid-winter storm starting Thursday. , with widespread and abundant rains in large areas of Spain. “These storms will be accompanied by strong gusts of wind and a drop in temperatures,” says Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). Hand in hand with the drop in thermometers, snowfall is expected in mountain areas which, on Saturday, the most adverse day of the episode, may also appear in low areas, especially in the northern half of the peninsula.
This Wednesday will still be an anticyclonic day, of sun and stability, like Tuesday, which began with a cold dawn and frosts that, in high mountain areas, have been strong. “It has reached -10° in high points of the Pyrenees such as Cap de Vaquèira (Lleida). In populated areas, the -5° in San Pedro Manrique (Soria) and Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara) stands out and, in provincial capitals, in Soria and Teruel they have dropped to -3°,” Del Campo details.
Stable weather this Tuesday and Wednesday; But starting on Thursday, the arrival of new storms will cause a change in weather, with rain in large areas of the country. It will snow in the mountains and, probably, also in areas of the plateau.
+ info 👉 pic.twitter.com/757hg7F7ZG— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) March 5, 2024
During the day, temperatures will be between two and four degrees higher than on Tuesday in much of the interior of the peninsula and in the Guadalquivir valley they will be around 20°. But, in the last few hours, the first storm of the carousel will begin to form in the northwest of the Peninsula and the skies will begin to cloud over the west of the Peninsula, although for the moment without water.
On Thursday, the first front associated with this storm, whose center will remain stationary to the northwest of the Peninsula, will sweep the territory from west to east, which will give rise to widespread rainfall, except in Catalonia, the extreme southeast and the Balearic Islands. According to the Aemet spokesperson, the most abundant rains will fall in Galicia, the southern tip of Castilla y León, northern Extremadura and western Andalusia, where they can be strong, persistent and locally accompanied by storms and even some hailstorms.
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The snow level “will decrease throughout the day and will remain around 900 to 1,200 meters in the afternoon in general, somewhat higher in the mountains of the southern half.” The early hours of Thursday, in general, “will be warmer than previous days” and the frosts will be limited to mountain areas “due to the greater cloud cover and the winds from the south and southeast, which will blow with intensity.” In the Cantabrian Sea, a strong coastal storm is expected. Daytime temperatures “will also drop, especially in the western half, as a mass of cold air of polar maritime origin enters there.” However, they will still rise a little in eastern areas.
On the warning map, there are alerts, all yellow, the lowest level on a scale of three, in 11 communities, due to rain in Andalusia, Castilla y León and Extremadura; due to wind in Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria, the Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Navarra, the Basque Country and La Rioja; and due to snow in Galicia, Extremadura and Castilla y León.
On Friday, the cold air mass will move towards the east of the country, where it will cause a sharp drop in temperature, between 6° and 8° compared to the previous day. “Daytime temperatures will be between 5° and 10° below normal on Friday and Saturday and, to a lesser extent, on Sunday. The minimums will be more normal,” points out the meteorologist.
In addition, there will be intense winds in mountain areas and widespread rainfall will continue in the Peninsula, except in the southeast, with the possibility of storms. The most abundant will be recorded in the west, especially in Galicia, south of Castellón, north of Extremadura and west of Andalusia. “As a novelty, there will also be abundant rain and snowfall in the mountains of northern Aragon and Catalonia. Although it is unlikely that rainfall will reach the Balearic Islands, if it does occur, it would be accompanied by mud due to suspended dust,” describes the expert.
Snow will appear from around 800 to 1,000 meters in the north and center of the Peninsula, so, especially in the afternoon, it may snow in parts of the northern plateau. In Andalusia, the level will rise to between 1,300 and 1,500 meters. The snow warnings extend to Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Community of Madrid, La Rioja and Galicia, all yellow except Aragón, which is orange, the second level of the scale. In addition, there are warnings for rough seas in Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and Murcia and, for wind, in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Navarra and La Rioja. In total, 14 communities under notice.
Saturday “will probably be the most adverse day”, with the arrival of a new and deep storm, also accompanied by cold air, which will replace the previous one as it is also located to the northwest. One of its fronts will cross the Peninsula from west to east, leaving in its wake widespread rain and snowfall not only in the mountains, but also in areas at lower altitudes and will generate intense winds. It will be a day again with widespread rainfall, the heaviest in Galicia, west of the Central system, large areas of eastern Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha and the north of Aragon and Catalonia. These rains can be “strong, persistent and accompanied by a storm.”
Furthermore, as the hours go by, “the elevation will drop until it is only 600 to 800 meters in the northern half, 800 meters in the central zone and 900 to 1,200 meters in the southern half.” Del Campo warns that there is “some uncertainty”, so it is advisable to pay attention to updates. For now, “with these forecasts, in addition to the mountains, it may also snow in lower areas, especially in the interior of Galicia, the northern plateau and the east of Castilla-La Mancha.” Will it snow in Madrid? where sleet fell last Saturday ―precipitation in the form of small ice―? “Today it is very unlikely. But in capitals like León, Soria, Ávila and Segovia it is more likely,” responds the meteorologist.
To complete the winter picture, the wind will blow intensely in coastal and mountain areas and temperatures will drop a little more. “On Sunday, the storm will move away towards the north and will lose intensity,” Del Campo foresees. This day “there will still be rain and snowfall in general, the greatest probability right now is that they will be less abundant than on Saturday,” he notes. And next week, rainfall is expected to be limited to the extreme north of the peninsula. There will be 12 communities under notice – Andalusia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Navarra, La Rioja, Valencian Community – and Ceuta, with the worst, orange notice, in Aragon for snowfall and Andalusia and Galicia due to bad seas.
The Canary Islands are left out of the situation and there “winds will blow from the north, which will leave abundant cloudiness and some rain in the north of the mountainous areas and the environment will be clearer in the south.” Temperatures will not vary too much.