The maximum temperatures will reach 44 degrees Celsius this week before the arrival of a heat wave that began this Monday and will continue, predictably, until Thursday. During these days there will also be torrid nights, that is, they will not drop below 25ºC, according to what the spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), Rubén del Campo, has advanced to Europa Press.
Specifically, the spokesperson has specified that the maximum temperatures will exceed 38ºC in a large part of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and will reach 44ºC in points of Andalusia and Aragon. As for the torrid nights, they will take place in areas of the center and south of the peninsula.
For this reason, the AEMET warns of the "extreme" risk of fires at these high temperatures given the low humidity in the environment, for which reason extreme precautions are recommended.
Faced with this situation, the AEMET has issued a special notice for this heat wave, which will take place mainly in the southern half of the peninsula and will take place between this Monday, July 10, and Wednesday, July 12, due to a ridge located to the east of the Peninsula, in the vicinity of Algeria, which is inducing a southern component flow in most of the Peninsula and in the Balearic Islands.
Thus, it is introducing a very hot and dry air mass of Saharan origin, accompanied by suspended dust, to a good part of the Peninsula, except to areas in the northwest and north. All this, together with the stability and high insolation typical of the season, will cause a rise in temperatures in the coming days, giving rise to a heat wave episode.
Regarding this heat wave, the spokesman explained that this mass of hot air comes from North Africa and has been favored by the presence of skies with little cloudiness and lack of ventilation. In any case, he pointed out that on Wednesday a drop in temperatures is expected in the north of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, although an "extremely hot" environment will still be experienced in the southern half, with 40ºC in the Guadalquivir Valley and up to 44ºC in Andalusia and Murcia.
However, temperatures could continue to rise from the middle of the week in the south of Spain, although it is not yet possible to predict whether they will continue during the days of Saturday and Sunday.
In the case of the Canary Islands, temperatures will be around 34ºC and can reach up to 40ºC in the south of Gran Canaria. In addition, both the Canary Islands and the Peninsula will experience the entry of the haze of the Sahara during this episode.
On the other hand, although precipitation is not expected, Del Campo has warned of the possible appearance of clouds in the interior of the eastern peninsula that could cause dry storms with little precipitation but "highly electrical".
In more detail, the spokesman explained that during the day on Monday the heat will be strong throughout the country except in the northwest and the coastal areas of the Levant. It will exceed 35ºC in a general way in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, with 40ºC in the central and southern zone and maximums of 45ºC in the Guadalquivir Valley and areas close to Jaén.
For this reason, Del Campo has warned of the "extreme danger" of these areas and of the presence of dry storms in the eastern interior, which can leave "strong" gusts of wind and electrical storms. Some haze will also be perceived in the southeast of the peninsula.
On Tuesday, the intense heat will continue throughout the country, with rising temperatures in the east of the peninsula and the Canary Islands. In addition, some points in the Mediterranean and the interior of the center and the southern half of the peninsula will have torrid nights at dawn (above 25ºC) and daytime days of more than 35ºC in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, except in the Bay of Biscay.
Again throughout the Spanish territory it will be around 40 degrees, while in the southern zone of the Guadalquivir Valley and in the interior the maximum will reach 45ºC, as in the central depression of the Ebro and in Mallorca, where they can be reached up to 43ºC.
On the other hand, storms with little rainfall are expected in the Pyrenees and the Iberian System, while the haze will dissipate in the southeast, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.
For Wednesday, Del Campo has indicated that there will be a drop in temperatures in the north of the peninsula, so that the thermometers in this area will register values "typical of the time of year." On the contrary, in the rest of the Peninsula it is expected that the temperatures of the previous day will be maintained, although with some decrease in Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
Facing the end of the week, there will be drops in the eastern end of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which will be especially notable in the southeast and the Cantabrian area, where more common temperatures for the time of year and even "low temperatures" may be recorded. ".
Looking ahead to the weekend, he has advanced that there is "uncertainty" about the behavior of the temperatures, but they will probably continue to be very high in the east, center and south of the Peninsula, as well as in the Balearic Islands and it seems more likely that, at least temporarily, temperatures drop in the Canary Islands. As for the rains, these days will be scarce during the second half of the week and will be limited to the extreme north.
On the other hand, Del Campo explained that the warm episode that took place in Spain in the last week of June is not considered a heat wave "since it did not exceed the established frameworks for intensity, geographical extension and persistence", although he has pointed out that it was "very close to being a heat wave due to its intensity."
"The fact that the thresholds were not reached could happen in part because the smoke from the fires in Canada, very present in our skies those days, prevented temperatures from rising as much as initially expected, since this smoke has an effect screen that prevents all solar radiation from reaching the surface and therefore temperatures as high as initially expected were not reached", he concluded.
