The weather during the first half of August has been marked by the fourth heat wave of the summer and a episode of torrential rains caused by a DANAWhat will the weather be like for the rest of the month? Will there be other extreme events? Current forecasts suggest that while heat will remain a constant in much of Spain, there is also the possibility that new DANAs could impact the country.
José Miguel Viñas, spokesman for Meteored, points out that The intense heat will share the spotlight with the storms that will hit several regions in the next few hours.. In the Canary Islands, storms are expected, which could be locally strong on the most mountainous islands, also giving rise to strong gusts of wind. In the afternoon, storms will occur on the Peninsula in mountainous areas of the southeast. Some of them will be dry, and may affect other areas in eastern Andalusia, the Region of Murcia and the southeast of Castilla-La Mancha.
For tomorrow Wednesdaythe expert warns of locally strong thunderstorms, with hail, in southern Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha and mountainous areas of AndalusiaIt will be a hot day in much of the country, with high temperatures in inland areas of the central-southern peninsula, inland Galicia and southern Canary Islands. ThursdayThe intense heat will continue and the storms will return in the afternoon in the south of the Iberian System, extending to interior of the Valencian Community and other mountain areas in the eastern peninsula.
Looking ahead to the next one weekend, a forehead will destabilize the atmosphere in the northern half of the Peninsula. It will leave showers with strong storms in its wake, especially in Aragon, Catalonia, Castellonwith possible hail, says Viñas. On Sunday the storms will hit the area fully Valencian Communityextending to other areas of the Mediterranean coast and BalearicsTemperatures will drop in the far north of the peninsula and it will continue to be quite hot in the central-southern part of the Peninsula.
Another DANA in sight?
For his part, Victor Gonzalez, also a spokesman for Meteored, indicates that during the last days of August the formation of a small DANA in the Peninsula cannot be ruled out. In addition, he highlights that the High sea temperatures could increase rainfall.
Gonzalez recalls that they have registered Extraordinary thermal anomalies in sea surface temperature, both in the Atlantic and the Mediterraneanwhere temperatures in areas close to the Peninsula exceed 3 ºC above normal. The expert explains that the presence of extraordinarily warm seas means that storms will have a lot of additional energy, so Any small trough or DANA could trigger episodes of intense stormssuch as those recently observed in the eastern peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
The expert explains that, as is usual at this time of year, the precipitation will not be uniform and will depend on the convective showers that develop. These will be more frequent in the north and east of the Peninsula. Although a slightly drier than usual second half of August is expected, rainfall will not be scarce.
Will it be very hot?
Regarding temperatures, González points out that they will be between 1 and 3 ºC above the average values for the time in much of the countryalthough they will be more moderate in points in the north and in both archipelagosMinimum temperatures will increase in coastal areas due to high sea temperatures, which will reduce the effectiveness of moderating warm air masses coming from the south.
As a result, This warm air will reach the Peninsula with greater intensity. Furthermore, sea breezes, which are generated at the end of the day due to the drop in temperatures on the Peninsula, will not be as effective in removing warm air from the interior.
More summer storms
Duncan Wingen, another Meteored expert, recalls that according to a study by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) of 2017, the months of August and September They are the ones with the greatest storm activity in Spain. This phenomenon is due to the heat and the availability of humidity in the lower layers of the atmosphere.
According to Wingen, the strong daytime sunshine characteristic of summer is essential for generating updrafts that give rise to thunderstorms. Warm air masses contain more moisture than cold ones, which facilitates the formation of thunderstorms in summer, especially in Mediterranean areas.
Thus, with a warm and humid lower troposphere, Even small influxes of cold air can trigger storms, especially in mountainous areas of the Northeast.. Wingen points out that it is common for successive waves to enter during the summer or troughs in the north of the peninsulawhere the influence of the ridge is less. The contrast between cold air at altitude and heat at the surface is key to the formation of storms.