A fairly widespread snowfall, which was not only limited to the high mountain areas, but also reached the inland regions above 700 meters of altitude, left this weekend a deceptive feeling of relief in the midst of a drought that It will require a very rainy spring to see a small ray of hope in the very serious water crisis that Catalonia is suffering from and which has forced all alerts to be activated.
The rainfall this weekend will have served, above all, to quench the thirst of the forests in some of the regions that are still very concerned about the high risk of fires predicted for the coming months, which will force the prevention campaign to be advanced. at earlier dates than ever.
Media Catalunya woke up yesterday with widespread rain and snow at infrequent levels. Rainfall is clearly insufficient to substantially improve the situation of the reservoirs in the coming days, which yesterday Sunday were at 14.59% of their capacity, below the 16% that marked the entry into the emergency phase by drought. That of Sau is at 1.10% and those of Riudecanyes (2.70%) and Siurana (3.10%) are almost as bad.
In any case, the month of March has begun with rain and snowfall that has exceeded five centimeters in thickness above 700 meters in the regions of Vallès Oriental and Occidental, Moianès, Osona and La Selva, in addition to doing so in the mountains of Prades and Montsant, and copiously in the Pyrenees.
In Prades, at an altitude of 926 meters, in the Tarragona region of Baix Camp, up to 11 centimeters of snow accumulated, while in the Pyrenees, between Saturday and Sunday, thicknesses of more than 40 centimeters were reached in Boí ( High Ribargorça); 34 in Espot (Pallars Sobirà); 29 in the Bonaigua (Pallars Sobirà), all precipitations that were very well received by the ski resorts, who trust that this episode will be followed by others in order to extend the season.
Even in some municipalities of the metropolitan area, such as Begues (Baix Llobregat), some snowflakes could be seen that also dusted the landscape of the Montserrat mountains.
The rain was especially abundant in the Empordà. In the municipality of Roses, for example, 44 liters per square meter were recorded in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday. Likewise, the rainwater irrigated the much-needed parks and gardens of Barcelona, ??where the temperature dropped to five degrees, an unprecedented record in this very mild winter that is facing its final stretch. In the Catalan capital, between 5 and 20 liters per square meter fell, very low but uncommon figures in these times of extreme drought when every drop counts more than ever.
The precipitation this past weekend caused the C-28 road, in the port of Bonaigua, in Lleida, to be closed to traffic due to snow yesterday morning; and the T-704, from Maspujols to L’Aleixar; the TV-7004, from Ulldemolins to Vallclara; the TV-7012, in Arbolí; and the TV-7092, between Arbolí and La Mussara, all of them in the province of Tarragona, and on several Pyrenean roads the use of chains was necessary. However, at noon, once the precipitation ended, only the C-28, in the port of Bonaigua, and the access to Coll de Pal remained closed due to snow.
