It is increasingly difficult to sleep in the big city. In some Barcelona neighborhoods, temperatures approached the disturbing barrier of 30º C during the early hours of Monday to Tuesday. This high night heat, which could be considered exceptionally high among all the days of summer, begins to show a persistent trend that has clearly increased in recent years.
Given the increase in nighttime temperatures in summer, two years ago, the Termcat, the terminology center for the Catalan language of the Generalitat, coined the expression nit roent (suffocating night –translates it into Spanish as “infernal”) for those that exceed 30º C, which leaves behind the classification of tropical (more than 20º C) or torrid (more than 25º C).
After the hot night from Monday to Tuesday, Barcelona City Council yesterday activated the emergency phase for torrid nights of the heat plan, in case specific interventions are necessary to preserve the health of vulnerable individuals and families. This type of alert is activated from maximum temperatures of 35.7º C or minimum temperatures of 27.9º C, which was precisely what the Fabra observatory recorded that morning, although in many of the city's neighborhoods temperatures exceeded 28ºC .
In the absence of definitive confirmation of the 27.9º C at the Fabra Observatory – last night's hours must be counted until 2 in the morning – it is very possible that it is the second highest historical record in Barcelona. The first occurred precisely a century ago, on August 8, 1923, when 28.6º C was recorded. This list does not include the minimum temperatures from last night (which will not be confirmed until the data for the next one is available). .
The historical data series from the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona show that, since 1914, there has been a notable increase in tropical and torrid nights since the 1980s, although their number has skyrocketed since the beginning of the 21st century, with more than 100 each year, a previously unheard of number. In addition, these do not end with the month of August, but are also recorded in September and, in more exceptional cases, in the month of October.
The Meteocat forecast based on the trends in the records is that extreme temperatures in Catalonia will continue to escalate, with an increase in daily maximum and minimum temperatures from 4ºC to 3.5ºC by the year 2050. The Catalan Meteorological Institute It also predicts that “the number of tropical and torrid nights in the coastal zone will increase considerably, as well as hot days (more than 30º C) and torrid days (more than 35º C).
The infernal 30º C nights are getting closer in Barcelona. The Les Corts weather station reached the absolute record for the highest minimum temperature on August 5, with 29.9º C on August 5, 2018. In the last five years, the trend has continued with the gradual increase in temperatures. It is a matter of time before many miss the torrid nights.
