Only persistent rains and not downpours like these days will alleviate the drought

The region of Barcelona and Girona needs continuous, persistent and widespread rains to make the rivers grow and be able to get out of the exceptional situation due to the drought.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
22 May 2023 Monday 14:42
1 Reads
Only persistent rains and not downpours like these days will alleviate the drought

The region of Barcelona and Girona needs continuous, persistent and widespread rains to make the rivers grow and be able to get out of the exceptional situation due to the drought. Mere geographically located occasional downpours are not enough, especially if these rainfalls are not constant at the headwaters of the Ter and Llobregat, whose reservoirs supply the central area of ​​Catalonia. This is how meteorologists express themselves when assessing the episode of spring rains these days.

“We need constant rains; not the type of downpours that occur in the afternoon, which produce 40 or 50 liters per square meter, but which are only a matter of three municipalities, which do not last long and are not extensive", explains Santiago Segalà, head of forecasting for the Meteorological Service of Catalonia.

The rains of recent days have served to globally maintain the level of water reserves in the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs, which continue to be at 25% of their maximum capacity.

There has been an increase in the contributions of flows in the Sau reservoir, in the Ter, but this rainfall has been less abundant in the Llobregat basin, the other great river that supplies Barcelona. For this reason, the situation is stable in the Baells reservoir, but the trend is decreasing in the La Llosa del Cavall and Sant Ponç reservoirs.

“At least one trend of continued decline in reservoir reserves has been broken. The land has become clogged with water and the next rains that occur, depending on the duration, extent and the flows they carry, can give rise to significant contributions to the reservoirs", say technicians from the Agència Catalana de l'Aigua.

The rains of these days have been caused by the arrival of fronts from the west that have given rise to the presence of storms and downpours, which have finally spread over large areas of the territory (except the Lleida regions).

Last night, for example, the focus of concern was on the coast and pre-coastal of Tarragona, where a warning was given due to the risk of a strong storm.

Experts stress, however, that the type of rainfall "is not what the country needs." Abundant, constant and extensive rains are required, "while these rains are downpours", Segalà highlights.

The meteorological situation is characterized by a succession of fronts from the west (and some from the north), typical spring episodes (“what is it that touches”). However, "what Catalonia needs" are situations in the Levant, such as those formed as a consequence of a Mediterranean depression and which give rise to abundant cloudiness and general and constant rainfall. The effect of these storms is that they are driven by maritime winds (xaloc, east, southeast) and that they generate abundant cloudiness.

The ACA technicians confirm that there have been outstanding rains very localized at the head of the Ter (70 liters in Ulldeter), but very close, in Camprodon or Núria, the rainfall has already had much less relevance. For this reason, the floods of the rivers are fleeting.

For this Saturday, there can be rainfall in the eastern half of Catalonia (regions of Girona and Barcelona): downpours and storms can be repeated, and locally there can be rainfall of 15 or 20 liters locally. "But, in general, they will not be large, although they can be locally," says Segalà. Today, rainfall will fall again at the headwaters of the Ter and Llobregat rivers, but less in the latter case. For Sunday and Monday, in Catalonia, calmer days are expected, while from Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday new disturbances are expected that give rise to downpours.

At the state level, the weekend will be marked by a "cooler" environment than in past weeks, especially in the north of the peninsula, where it will be colder than normal for this time of year, and there will be rain, showers and storms in the north and east of the country, according to the State Meteorological Agency.