WEATHER – Although the risk of wintry weather is spreading further and further across Spain, the situation does not yet give cause to talk about a ‘new Filomena’ as is being speculated. Although, how long the cold continues, remains to be seen.
Spain is suffering from a counter-cyclonic blockage for a few days. Therefore, due to high pressure, it could lead to rain or snowstorms more common at this time of year.
According to Samuel Biener of the Spanish meteorological service Meteored, these counter-cyclonic blocks could last “weeks or months”, although he hopes this does not happen “as the drought in some regions in central and western Spain is worrying”. His colleague José Miguel Viñas says the arrival of a ‘new storm Filomena’ is highly unlikely. Moreover, two snowstorms of this magnitude in two consecutive winters, ‘weather statistics would be seriously out of line’.
Cold weather in nine communities
Minimum temperatures will be very low in nine autonomous communities, with values between -4 and 8 degrees Celsius.
Code Yellow -for the low minimum temperatures- applies especially to the four provinces of Galicia. Also, to the nine provinces of Castilla y León, Cantabria La Rioja, Navarra, the three provinces of Aragon, the province of Guadalajara, Barcelona, Gerona, Lerida, and Valencia. On the coasts of Cadiz, Málaga, Granada, Almeria, Ceuta, and Melilla, very strong easterly winds of force 7 or even 8 are expected, with waves of around three metres.
Almeria, Granada, and Málaga are given code orange (significant risk) as the waves could reach 4 metres. In Cadiz, an easterly wind with gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour is warned.
Snow and fog
The snow line is between 1,000 and 1,400 metres in ‘el Sistema Central’ in Segovia and between 1,200 and 1,600 metres in the south-eastern mountain ranges. In the south-eastern interior and Galicia, the upper reaches of the Ebro, the east of the Iberian Peninsula, and el Sistema Central fog may occur. This has been so in the previous days, and also applies to Melilla.
What will the temperature do?
The Spanish weather service Aemet predicts little change in temperatures. Maximum temperatures will rise in the southern half of the ‘Meseta Central’ and fall a little in the Canary Islands. In the southeast of Spain, the minimum temperatures will drop and frost is expected in the interior of the northern half of the peninsula, in the southeast and in areas of the Northern Plateau, the Iberian System, and in the Pyrenees.
Wind
Finally, easterly winds are forecast in Galicia, the southern half of the peninsula, and in the Balearic Islands. In the Sea of Alborán, the wind is intermittently strong. And in the Strait of Gibraltar also a strong easterly wind blows. Furthermore, in the Canary Islands, the trade winds will prevail. Whereas, in the rest of the country, the wind will be light and changeable.
