The traditional popular reference to the so-called “Ice Saints” will come to life this year in an exceptional way, coinciding with a episode of atmospheric instability what could cause an accused drop in temperatures in much of the countrys.
According to the forecast released by Meteored, a cold storm located off Portugal will evolve into a DANA and will bring with it an air mass of polar origin first, and later an irruption of airmaritime arcticwill cause a unusually cold environment for mid-May.
Generalized thermal drop
During the next few days a progressive cooling is expected, with negative thermal anomalies of between 4 and 8 ºC compared to what is usual on these dates. The most abrupt change would come between Friday and Saturday.
The forecasts point to especially marked declines in areas of the interior and northern peninsulawith values that could be placed up to 15 ºC below normal in some points.
One of the most affected areas would be the Iberian System, where the cooling would be particularly intense. In cities like Soriathey are expected maximums around 10 ºC during the coldest day, very low records for this time of year.
An episode linked to popular tradition
The episode coincides with the days associated in the popular calendar with the “Ice Saints”, festivities of San Mamerto, San Pancracio and San Servatio, to which others such as San Boniface and Santa Sofía are traditionally added.
Agricultural tradition attributes to these dates a last burst of late cold in springhistorically feared for its possible impact on crops.