A total of 24 meteorological stations of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) exceeded the maximum temperature record for the month of April on Thursday. The new records narrowly exceed previous records, even by more than four degrees. All this is the result of the influence of an air mass “very hot, dry and of African origin” that has swept large areas of the southern half, although today Saturday temperatures are expected to drop “remarkably and general tomorrow” with eight degrees less than these days
In the end, Aemet’s forecasts were met exactly, so that the 40º C threshold was narrowly missed. The highest temperature records in April were registered at Córdoba airport, where the temperature reached 38.8º C, a figure that exceeds by 4.8º C the maximum reached so far (on 18 April 2017), followed by Morón de la Frontera, with 37.4º C (the previous record was 34.7º C, in 1997) and Seville airport, with 36.9º C (35.4º C in 1997).
The absolute record for April in Spain remains the 40.2 °C reached in 2013 in Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands.
Other very prominent records were those of Granada, with 36.9º C (32.7º C in 2017), Badajoz airport, with 36.1º C (33.2º C in 1997) and Jérez de la Frontera, with 35.2º C (33.6º C).
The observatory of Madrid’s Retiro Park marked 30.7º C, the highest temperature recorded since the historical series of this station began in 1920. Yesterday, Friday, thermometers marked 36 degrees or more in the southern half of the peninsula , while temperatures were slightly cooler in the northern half.
Meanwhile, today it is expected that there will be a widespread and noticeable drop in temperatures, estimated “at about eight degrees less in practically the entire peninsula”, according to the Aemet spokesman, Cayetano Torres. During the next two days the temperatures will clearly drop, but they will still be above normal, except in the north of the peninsula, where they will be close to the average.
However, this Saturday in some areas it will exceed 35 degrees, also in localities close to the Mediterranean coast of the southern half. It will be the hottest day of April on record. This episode of extraordinarily high and record temperatures for April will be considered over on Sunday. In this sense, a certain instability is expected in the north-west of the peninsula with showers and storms in the north-east of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The first four days of next week, from May 1 to 4, will be dry and sunny. Precipitation is only expected on Monday in the far north-east and the Balearic Islands, and on Wednesday and Thursday in Galicia and the west of the Cantabrian area.
“The drought situation will continue for the next few days and it is expected that it will continue for the next few months, in anticipation of an autumn that the models predict will be rainy”, according to Cayetano Torres. “We hope that these predictions will be fulfilled and the drought will end, as it is highly likely that (this end) will be after the summer,” said Torres.
In the current hydrological year, which began on October 1 (and will end on September 30), the national average value of accumulated precipitation until April 25 is 344 liters per m2, that is, 24% less than normal.
And April looks set to be the driest since the national record rainfall streak began in 1961.
The Central Government decided for the first time in history to move forward a month and a half the start of the state campaign against forest fires due to the warning from Aemet that Spain will have unusually high temperatures in the coming weeks. The decision was taken in the State Committee for Coordination and Management (Cecod) of the State Plan for Forest Fires, which was established this Friday at the headquarters of Civil Protection. In previous years, the Cecod of the State Forest Fire Plan was established in mid-June.
