The episode of abnormally high temperatures this week will reach its peak this Thursday (27) and Friday (28), when temperatures will exceed 30 degrees in many areas of the peninsula and also in the Balearic Islands. They will even reach 38 and 39 ºC in the Guadalquivir valley, an unknown level for a month of April. The current warm episode “will be the most intense in April on the Peninsula since there are records,” according to the State Meteological Agency.
But yesterday, Tuesday, there were already very high temperatures for the time of year in most of Spain
Daytime values ​​were between 7 and 12 degrees above normal in almost the entire peninsula except in the northern third.
In the Valencian Community, temperatures exceeded 36 ºC; For example, in the towns of Xà tiva and Carcaixent, both in the province of Valencia, they reached 36.2 ºC; They were the highest records on Tuesday in Spain.
In addition, maximum temperature records have already begun to be broken and among these records, two stand out in the Aemet main network stations.
Córdoba-airport, for example, reached 35.1 ºC, a record that exceeds the 34 ºC of the previous record, from April 2017.
The other station record for Aemet’s main network was 35 degrees in Jerez de la Frontera (at its airport). Its 35 degrees exceeded the 33.6 degrees of the previous record registered in April 1997.
Rubén del Campo, spokesman for Aemet, points out that “it is quite probable that in the coming days these same records will be broken again and others will fall in different locations.”
In fact, the spokesman continues, “we are heading towards the warmer days of this episode.” The forecast is that the high point will be on Thursday and Friday in most of Spain.
On Saturday there will be a decrease in temperature in expanding areas, but the heat will still be very intense in the eastern third of the Peninsula and in the Balearic Islands.
For Sunday and Monday there is still uncertainty and it seems that the temperatures will continue to drop; but the truth is that in the central half-south area the warm environment for the season will continue during those days with records between 5 and 5 degrees above normal.
In addition, it is possible that starting Tuesday temperatures will rise again and the atmosphere will continue to be very warm in almost the entire country during the week.
“We will have to wait for the warm episode to end to analyze the temperatures in April in detail, but it is possible that April 2023, driven mainly by this warm episode, will be one of the two warmest April months in the historical series (1961)â€, says Del Campo.
Another outstanding element has been this month of April “the scarcity of rain.” From April 1 to April 23, 12 liters per square meter had been collected in Spain, which represents a 75% reduction in normal rainfall.
In addition, “in the next few days it will hardly rain, although during the weekend there will be that, yes, precipitation in the northern third of the peninsula and some storms in the rest of the northern half,” says Aemet.
It is quite probable that April 2023 will end as the driest month in the historical series in Spain as a whole.
In this negative aspect, it would surpass April 1995, when 23 liters per square meter fell. “Now it doesn’t seem likely that that figure will be reached.”
“This episode of high temperatures will be the most intense experienced in April in the Iberian Peninsula since there are records,” sums up Rubén del Campo. The days that make up the period between April 25 and 30 “could be the warmest for those dates since at least 1950,” he adds.
The spokesman recalls, when commenting on the possible relationship of this phenomenon with climate change, that “extreme events linked to high temperatures have become more frequent and intense, and that this intense heat appears earlier.”
Each episode must be analyzed in detail, but this expert adds that, assessing its “intensity and its early nature”, this episode “fits in with what is being observed that causes climate change, let’s remember”.
Spain has recently registered very hot situations from midsummer to spring. And clear examples of this are the episodes of mid-May 2015 and 2022; both are extraordinary and exceeded 40 degrees in points of the south and east of the peninsula.
In this episode at the end of April, it will probably exceed 38 degrees in points in the south of the peninsula. “This is unprecedented in the Aemet network. Therefore we are talking about an extremely warm episode still in the month of Aprilâ€.
The forecast indicates for today that temperatures will already be higher than Tuesday in almost the entire country, except in the Mediterranean area, where temperatures will drop due to the effect of the breezes.
In the Ebro valley, central zone and southern half, temperatures will reach or exceed 30 degrees while 36 degrees will be recorded in the Guadalquivir valley. In Córdoba it could exceed those 36 degrees and in Seville 37.
The most outstanding thing is that the rise in temperatures will continue in almost all of Spain. Thursday morning will be warm and it may not drop below 20 degrees on the Andalusian coast and also in parts of the interior of this community. “Therefore, we are already talking about tropical nights,” says del Campo.
In the afternoon, on Thursday it will exceed 30 degrees in the Ebro valley. Zaragoza could reach 31 degrees, and also the downtown area. Madrid could reach 30 degrees and also at points on the northern plateau.
In the southern half, 32 degrees will be widely exceeded, and in the Guadiana valley it will even exceed 36 degrees and in the Guadalquivir valley 38 degrees.
It cannot be ruled out that in the Guadalquivir valley, specifically in the provinces of Córdoba and Seville, it will reach 39 degrees on Thursday.
It will be the warmest day of the episode in general, with a new rise in night and day temperatures, although daytime temperatures will not change much in the southeast-
Again, it will exceed 30 degrees in the Ebro valley and in Zaragoza it would even reach 32.
In the northern plateau, Valladolid and Zamora can reach 31 degrees; also in Ourense it can reach 31 degrees; and that same temperature could be reached in the center of Madrid, which would break its record (of 30 ºC recorded in 1945).
In the Guadalquivir valley, the temperatures would be similar to those of Thursday, that is, they could exceed 38 or even reach 39 degrees in the provinces of Seville and Córdoba.
On Saturday the minimum temperatures at night will continue to rise and the tropical nights will continue to be registered in points of the southern half and could even reach the center of the peninsula.
However, there will be a clear drop in temperatures, especially marked in the northern third of the peninsula where they will be up to 6 and 8 degrees compared to the previous day.
However, they will rise clearly in the Mediterranean and Balearic regions as a result of the arrival there of westerly winds, which arrive dry and overheated. Thus, in the east of the peninsula, the atmosphere will continue to be very warm, with 34 degrees, for example in Lleida or 36 in Murcia and Andalusia.
And in Andalusia, although it is slightly less hot than in the two previous days, Córdoba, Granada or Seville will still reach 36 degrees. “And this is still a very unusually warm environment for the time; they are still x
On Sunday temperatures will continue to drop, especially in the east of the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands, but the tropical nights will persist in the south of Andalusia and the daytime heat will also persist in the Guadalquivir valley, still with values ​​of more than 34 degrees.
It will also continue to mark more than 30 degrees in large areas of the southern half, on Sunday, however. The environment will be cooler in the northern third and, for example, A Coruña, San Sebastián, Vitoria or Pamplona will remain with maximum temperatures of between 18 and 20 degrees.
On Monday, May 1, temperatures could continue to drop, but they are likely to pick up again from Tuesday.
And it is “it is possible that the temperatures recover again from Tuesday”. In general “we can talk about a very warm environment for the time of year again during most of the next week in almost all of Spain
