One more year, summer is being exceptionally hot in Barcelona. Since last June 1, when according to the metrological calendar this station officially began, the high temperatures They have given no truce day or night. According to an analysis carried out by EL PERIÓDICO, the night heat has been one of the highest ever recorded in the Catalan capital. one in three nights has been above 25ºC (the threshold from which, technically speaking, it is considered a torrid night). This is one of the highest numbers ever recorded and, with more than a month to go before the end of the summer and on the eve of the start of another peak of extreme heat, could soon become a new record.
According to data collected by the Raval weather station, located in the heart of Barcelona, practically every night this summer has been very warm. 90% have been above 20ºC (the scale from which it is considered a tropical night) and close to 30% have been above 25ºC (torrid nights). In the last fifteen years, since there are records of this automatic station, the usual thing was to register between 60% and 80% of tropical nights and between 5% and 15% of torrid nights throughout the summer. The figures for this year, with fifteen days to go before the end of August, already They are the second highest registered in the Catalan capital.
“In cities like Barcelona, we must take into account that, beyond what the thermometers indicate, factors such as the humidity and the wind they can considerably increase the thermal sensation. So it is very possible that the night heat was even higher than what these figures indicate,” he says. Xavi Solerforecasting and surveillance technician Meteorological Service of Catalonia. Since the beginning of the summer, the Generalitat has activated at least eight advisories for extreme heat at night in the Catalan coastal and pre-coastal regions.
extremely hot nights
The hottest night of this summer was that of past july 24. That day, the thermometers did not drop below 26ºC not even at the ‘coolest’ time of day. If we add to this that, at that time, the relative humidity was above 70% and as soon as the wind was blowing in the city, everything points to that night the thermal sensation touched the 30ºC in Barcelona. This figure would practically be equivalent to what we know as hellish night; he hitherto highest threshold to describe the night heat (and a scale that is already being exceeded in various parts of Spain where, without going any further, this week there have been nights above 35 ºC).
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This summer there has only been six nights with temperatures below 20ºC in Barcelona. Five of these took place in early June and one in early August. During the rest of the days, the 1.5 million inhabitants of Barcelona have been constantly well above 20ºC. According to the experts, when the thermometers exceed this figure it is particularly difficult to fall asleep. The increase in tropical and torrid nights is related to an increase in cases of insomniaas well as problems resting in the bulk of the population (which, in turn, lead to increased irritability, stress, and emotional discomfort).
Forecasts suggest that the final stretch of summer will shoot the thermometers again in all of Catalonia. “Between Monday and Wednesday, an increase in both daytime and nighttime temperatures is expected. This increase in thermometers will occur on days in which there will be hardly any wind and with relatively low humidity conditions. All this could further increase the feeling of embarrassment,” says Soler. “It is also expected that the night heat will once again be above the usual values,” adds the meteorologist about the extremely hot nights which could arrive in the next few days.