If the forecasts come true, this episode of exceptional heat could become one of the earliest heat waves since records exist.
The Thermometers will return to temperatures above normal for this time of year in Spain. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has turned on, once again, a high temperature warning on the peninsula and has warned that, possibly, we are facing the first heat wave of the year. Everything indicates that between Thursday and Monday 40 degrees will be exceeded in large areas of the southern half of the peninsula. If the forecasts are fulfilled, this episode of exceptional heat it could become one of the earliest heat waves on record. The previous record was set in 1981when the thermometers marked a record temperature on June 11.
The rise in thermometers, on this occasion, is due to the combination of two factors. On the one hand, the situation of general stability caused by the Alex anticyclone and, on the other, the arrival of a very warm air mass from North Africa. The combination of these factors will cause a progressive rise in temperatures from this Thursday and throughout the weekend and, probably, until Monday. In areas like Extremadura, Andalusia and Castilla-La Macha Records above 38 degrees are expected. In Catalonia, according to data from Meteocat, it is also expected higher than normal temperatures for this time of year.
⚠️High temperatures ?️⏫
Atmospheric stability and the arrival of very warm air from North Africa will cause temperatures to exceed 38 or 40 ºC in large areas of the southern half in the coming days.
The episode could become the first #Heat wave summer 2022 pic.twitter.com/PemLRejjJl— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) June 9, 2022
June starts with exceptionally high records after May in which records were also broken. As reflected in the records, May was the hottest in Spain since there are records. Both the average maximum temperatures and the monthly average are the highest since the 1960s, when meteorological data began to be collected. Until now, the previous record for the warmest May was held by the year 2020. In 2022, May registered an average temperature of 16.6 degrees. I mean, almost three degrees more than average compared to the usual values.
Global warming
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The increase in temperatures these days is one more symptom of global warming and the advance of the climate crisis. According to a recent study by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), climate change the arrival of the summer heat has advanced between 20 and 40 days in Spain. This implies, on the one hand, that the heat comes sooner every time and, on the other, that heat waves are getting earlier. In May, without going any further, several Spanish observatories warned that “typical summer temperatures” were being recorded almost a month before for the season to officially start.
The latest report on the state of the climate in Spain, presented this Thursday, also warns that Spain is exposed to a significant increase in temperatures since at least the second half of the 19th century. The year 2021for example, was “very hot and dry: 11th warmest since 1961 Y the ninth of the 21st century“, with records of warm days that have been “10 times more frequent than cold days in the last decade”, explained Rubén del Campo, spokesman for Aemet.