Since September 15, 2023, Catalonia has not experienced a rain episode like the one recorded this weekend, according to data collected by the Meteocat meteorology service. For the first time in months, the rains were heavy and in the northern area of ??Montseny almost 100 liters per square meter were reached. Less attractive were the Terres de l’Ebre, where the records barely reached five liters per square meter.
The rains accumulated since Friday, but especially recorded on Saturday, were especially abundant in Arbúcies (la Selva) with 98 liters, and in Viladrau (Osona), with 97.8 liters. It is the case that in this area of ??Montseny, as well as other parts of Osona, it has been four years, since the Gloria storm (January 20-23, 2020), that it has not rained as much in a single day as it did yesterday, Saturday.
Another especially fortunate area has been the southern slope of the Western Pyrenees, where the snow has fallen to the bottom of the valleys during much of the storm. In fact, the southern slope, as well as the entire Pre-Pyrenees, have experienced the most significant snowfall of the season, with snow depths of more than 50 centimeters of new snow in some sectors.
These rains and the fallen snow have caused, according to data from the Catalan Water Agency, that the Ter river, as it passes through the Sau reservoir, one of the most affected by the drought that is affecting Catalonia, has exceeded 2 meters. per second at the beginning of the week at 26.89 yesterday afternoon.
On the other hand, according to Meteocat, the rain was scarce, less than five liters per square meter, in the area of ??Terres de l’Ebre and the south of Segrià.
Civil Protection has reported in a statement that it has deactivated the alert phase of the NEUCAT plan after the abundant snow that fell yesterday in areas of the Pyrenees and the Western Pre-Pyrenees.
It has not been an exceptional episode of rain, but in the context of current drought, yesterday Saturday was the rainiest day of the last half year in Catalonia as a whole. The quantities collected that September 15, 2023 were similar, but the distribution was not, since the maximums were concentrated near the coast, while the rain was not abundant in the headwaters of the rivers.
Until last midnight, the emergency telephone number received a total of 689 calls for 371 incidents related to inclement weather, none of them serious.
The majority of these calls came from the regions of La Selva (26.10%), Barcelonès (13.15%) and Vallès Oriental (12.75%).
The municipalities with the most warnings were those of Fogars de la Selva (78), Barcelona (46) and Sant Celoni (21), especially between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Today, Meteocat has issued a warning for tomorrow, Monday, due to the forecast of strong winds from early morning until 7:00 p.m.
