The transition from February to March was marked by a episode of intense cold and snowfall at low levels that reached up to the seafront in some towns on the Catalan coast and that also left prints such as contemplating collserola or the massif of Garraf stained white for two consecutive days.
Subsequently, a anticyclone that displaced one squall juliette -which left behind one of the biggest storms in decades over the Balearic Islands- and which brought calm in the sky back to Catalan territory, unfortunately halted any possibility of rain in the short term -with the consequent news restrictions of the Generalitat in the management of water resources due to the critical situation of the Catalan reservoirs- and slowly but progressively removed the frosts, but still keeping the temperature below what it would touch for these dates.
the heat returns
That situation will change completely from next week. We will continue moving away from the previous episode of instability, already with records in line with a classic March, but as of Wednesday the thermometers will begin to soar, reaching the weekend temperatures of pure spring heat between 6 ºC and 8 ºC above average.
For those days of maximum peak, it will easily exceed 20 ºC in coastal and pre-coastal points, with the possibility that, at specific moments, we will have records close to 25 ºC.
In relation to the precipitation, it is foreseen that it will bring a negative anomaly to Catalonia. Molt will probably establish a zonal advection from the west accompanied by frontal systems that will arrive worn out in our country. The following week no variations are expected and will tend to be dry. pic.twitter.com/z9xiip8Ove
—Meteocat (@meteocat) March 2, 2023
no hint of rain
The meteorological models converge in that a continuous episode of precipitation is not expected in the short term that help to solve, at least partially, the drought that is ravaging Catalonia. and that it is also leaving other images that will remain in the memory over the years, such as the crowded visits to a very dry Sau reservoir.
Both the GFS model, the ECMWF and the ICON agree on this point and only give Catalonia some loopholes of sporadic showers and little accumulation of water in the extreme south -the Terres de l’Ebre- and in the western sector of the Pyrenees.
It will be precipitations coming from the rainy fronts that will enter through the Atlantic and that, as explained by the Meteorological Service of Cataloniathey will arrive worn to the Mediterranean strip after crossing the Iberian Peninsula from west to east.
We have been around ten days with temperatures clearly below normal for the time of year. If the forecasts are met, next weekend will present a very different picture, with an unusually warm environment in most of the country. pic.twitter.com/HKXurqKh2Q
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) March 4, 2023
Final end of the cold?
Related news
Although it is true that the meteorological spring began on March 1, and that the next two weeks will be warm, it is still the return of a cold front cannot be ruled out that lowers the thermometers to levels below what is usual for these dates.
If the maximum peak of this episode of spring heat is, for now, framed between March 12 and 14, from there the models forecast a gradual drop in temperature with the possibility that in the second half of March we will once again have below-average records, although they are milder than in previous episodes.