Spain is preparing for a dual meteorological scenario starting this Friday, April 17. According to expert Samuel Biener, the combination of intense heat for the time and the arrival of cold air in the upper layers of the atmosphere will trigger the formation of storms in much of the interior.
35 ºC in the Canary archipelago
This change comes just when an anticyclonic ridge will raise thermometers above 30 degrees in various parts of the Peninsula and up to 35 degrees in the Canary Islands, leaving very considerable thermal amplitudes between day and night.
The stability that has predominated in recent days will be interrupted by the passage of small waves in height. This phenomenon will favor the growth of evolutionary clouds starting at midday, a typical process in the second half of spring that usually brings with it adverse phenomena.
“It would not be strange for accumulations of more than 30 or 50 l/m2 to be recorded punctually” during the next few days, according to the most recent European models.
Storms, hailstorms and strong winds
Friday afternoon will serve as a preview with some isolated showers in the Pyrenees, but it will be Saturday when the instability gains strength. The forecasts indicate that showers and storms will be intense in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Iberian System, the Central System and the south of Castilla y León.
These storms could be accompanied by hail and strong winds associated with convective nuclei, so caution is recommended in outdoor activities.
Looking ahead to Sunday, the situation will gain momentum. The storms will be strong again in the north and northeast, although weaker and more scattered downpours could also appear in the mountain ranges of the southeast of the peninsula. Meanwhile, dry and hot weather will continue to prevail in the rest of the country under the influence of the soft air mass associated with the anticyclone.
Instability will continue
Far from subsiding, storm activity will remain active during Monday and Tuesday of next week. On Monday the most intense nuclei will move towards the confluence of the provinces of Teruel, Castellón and Cuenca, without ruling out that they will severely affect the north of Catalonia and Huesca.
For Tuesday, uncertainty increases, although experts predict that the showers will be distributed throughout the interior of the Valencian Community, the southern Iberian region and the mountains of eastern Andalusia. “Once again they may be of a certain intensity,” warns Biener, pointing out that these storm cores will continue to set the meteorological rhythm in the interior and north of Spain while the rest of the territory maintains the summer pulse.