The week has started in Spain with a abnormal heat episodeaccompanied by storms in several areas of the country, which could intensify starting Thursday due to the possible arrival of a DANA.
The spokesperson State Meteorological Agency (AEMET)Rubén del Campo, has warned that thermometers will be between 5 and 10ºC above usual for much of the week, with even higher values in inland areas. “We will talk about temperatures more typical of June than April,” he noted.
A very warm air mass will begin to affect the Peninsula from this Tuesday, driving temperatures above 30ºC in large areas of the east, center and south. In the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valleys, temperatures could exceed 33 to 34ºC. Furthermore, the presence of dust in suspension will favor episodes of haze and even mud rains.
Although the heat will be the protagonist, showers and storms are expected, especially in the north of the peninsula. These could be locally intense in Galicia, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Iberian System and the Pyreneeswith the possibility of hail and very strong gusts of wind. They could also be recorded in other parts of the peninsular interior, although in a more dispersed way.
On Wednesday, a thermal drop is expected in the north and west of the Peninsula that will also be notable in the Cantabrian Sea. Despite this, 30ºC will continue to be exceeded in the east, where cities such as Lleida or Zaragoza could exceed 32ºC.” Storms that day will be less frequent than the previous day, and will be concentrated in mountain areas in the northeast, especially around the Iberian System and the Pyrenees.
Changes starting Thursday: more instability
Looking ahead to Thursday, Del Campo advances that a dnotable thermal decline in the Mediterranean area and the Balearic Islandswhile thermometers will rise in the rest of the country. In this way, temperatures will exceed 30ºC in the center and south of the peninsula. That day instability will increase, with storms that could be locally strong especially in the west of the Peninsula. There will continue to be suspended dust that will give rise to haze in the Canary Islands.
For him Friday and the weekenda, the forecast presents greater uncertainty, although a very warm environment in most of the territory. In parallel, The risk of storms will increase, especially in the north and west.
Possible arrival of a DANA
Meteored climatologist Samuel Biener points out that Starting Thursday the situation could be complicated by the release of a DANAwhich will increase the risk of intense storms in several communities. Weather models point to greater electrical activity towards the end of the weeka, although experts insist that there is still uncertainty about the exact evolution of the episode.
If the forecasts of the European model and the American GFS are fulfilled, on Friday they could register widespread storms in Castilla y León, the Cantabrian Mountains and the Iberian System. In turn, they could also affect in a more dispersed way the interior of Galicia, Extremadura, western Castilla-La Mancha and southern and western Andalusia.
Starting on Saturday, the showers will extend also for a large part of Castilla-La Mancha, the Community of Madrid and the eastern mountains of Andalusia. Looking ahead to Sunday, the probability of storms will be concentrated again in Castilla y León, the interior of Galicia, the Cantabrian Mountains, Madrid, Guadalajara, western Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura.