Nearly thirty regions in Spain could experience calima between Thursday and Friday. This desert dust in the air combined with rain can lead to the precipitation of mud, also known as ‘blood rain’. The Spanish weather service AEMET warns of the areas that will be affected.
The arrival of a DANA will cause precipitation in large parts of Spain on Thursday and part of Friday. However, the weather promises to become stable again over the weekend. Both the minimum and maximum temperatures will then rise again. Cayetano Torres reported this, spokesperson for the Spanish Meteorological Service (AEMET).
#BuenasNoches. Puedes ver el video con la predicción oficial de #AEMET para mañana en https://t.co/v2rjo1XZ2t pic.twitter.com/nWGLYPPVAA
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) February 14, 2024
Heavy rain in parts of Andalusia
Thursday will be a day of almost general rainfall in Spain. This is the result of the front crossing the north and a DANA (isolated high-level depression), also referred to as ‘gota fría’ in Spanish. What does ‘cold drop’ means? The precipitation is not extremely heavy, except parts of southern Andalusia. In the province of Cádiz and Ceuta, more than 15 litres per square meter can fall in just one hour. The showers are accompanied by thunder and even hail is not excluded here.
Spreading the calima
By the end of the day, all this precipitation will decrease from the west. The showers will probably still reach areas of the Pyrenees, Aragón, the interior of Catalonia and the Valencian Community. The Region of Murcia will also be affected. But in general, the further east, the weaker and more dispersed the rain showers will be.
South wind with Sahara dust
A southerly wind carries a cloud of dust in suspension from the Canary Islands to the Spanish mainland. There, a westerly wind drives the front with mud rain towards the east of the peninsula.
During the morning the calima was noticeable in the west of Spain, especially in the provinces of Seville, Córdoba, Badajoz, Cáceres, Salamanca and Zamora. During the afternoon the dust will move eastward. It also affects the provinces of Valladolid, Ávila, Palencia, Burgos, Soria, Madrid, Toledo, Guadalajara, Ciudad Real and Jaén.
During Thursday evening the calima will move to the east of the peninsula. The south of Aragon and the north of the Valencia region will then notice something. During Friday, the desert dust combined with rain may affect the provinces of Zaragoza, Huesca, Lleida, Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia and the Balearic Islands.
Check our weather map
If you want to know at what time the dust cloud and rain showers will hit which places in Spain, look at our ‘Weather’ category on the weather map. At the top right, you can choose rain maps, temperature maps etc. You can also choose more below the map indicated with ‘masa de polvo’ (amount of dust). Then click ‘play’ and watch the dust cloud move across the map of Spain for the rest of the day and Friday.
Also read: ‘Blood rain’ on the way to Andalusia
