Christmas in Spain is not expected white, but it is full of rain, which will move from west to east of the Peninsula, with snowfall only at high altitudes and with higher temperatures than usual at this time, according to the forecast made this Friday by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
During this weekend prior to the festivities, as detailed in a press conference by Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for the Aemet, stable weather will still predominate, with sunny surroundings and mild temperatures during the day and cold at night, due to the persistence of the blockade anticyclone centered in Western Europe, from where it exerts its influence on Spain. Fog banks are also expected, as has been happening all week, which can be persistent in the valleys of the great rivers, especially in the Ebro, and also in the Mediterranean area, inland and southeast, with yellow warning (the lowest of the three existing) due to visibility limited to 250 meters in the northeast communities.
#AEMETblog
Prediction for the next three weeks.
Christmas may not be white or very cold, but at least we hope it leaves the gift of ️ in areas hit by drought.
https://t.co/Z8IgV57P9J
- AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) December 17, 2021
However, on Sunday changes begin to be seen due to the arrival of a storm, which will leave some rains in the Canary Islands already at the weekend.
"The high pressures are retreating towards the northeast of the European continent, which will allow the approach of the storms", has advanced the meteorologist, who points to an "important time change" for the beginning of the festivities.
This storm will leave between 50 and 100 liters of precipitation per square meter in much of the western half of the country the week of Christmas Eve and Christmas, especially on Monday and Tuesday. Where more water is expected, up to 100 liters of rain per square meter, is in Galicia, Central System, western Andalusia, area of the Strait and Alboran. Although it does not usually like it to rain on certain days, it is "very good news" for the Southwest, affected by a long drought.
Rainfall will move throughout the week from the west to the east of the peninsula. "As the week progresses, it will rain in the western half especially, while some rain is expected in the rest of the Peninsula, less abundant in the Ebro area and in the Mediterranean area", predicts Del Campo, who does not rules out that water can reach the Balearic Islands. Precipitation is also expected in the Canary Islands, especially on the island of La Palma, where more than 50 liters will be collected. As for temperatures, the environment will be temperate and temperatures will be higher than usual for this time in almost all of Spain, so the snow will be reserved at high levels.
What will happen in the second half of the Christmas holidays, during New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve, "is already a terrain of uncertainty", but today it seems that high pressures will continue in higher latitudes in Spain, which will allow circulation of more storms by low latitudes. "Probably, the week from Christmas to New Year there will be more rains than usual in the south again, but also in the center and in the east, so by the end of the year the rains could irrigate the whole country", he predicted " with caution ”the spokesperson of the Aemet. Temperatures will be "around normal." And Reyes? "At the moment, there is no clear sign of what could happen the first week of January," Del Campo replied.
Regarding the ski resorts, Del Campo has reported that there is a high probability that the rain, which comes with high humidity and surely subtropical latitudes, will melt the snow that is below 1,400 to 1,500 meters.
"It is not likely that the best conditions will be given to see snow at low levels," he concluded.
In short, Christmas without cold and without snow, but passed through water.
What will winter be like in Spain?
The Rotxapea neighborhood of Pamplona, flooded last December 10.EUROPA PRESS
Aemet spokesmen have once again stressed, at the insistence of the media and public opinion, that a reliable weather forecast, with the current media, does not go beyond a week seen. Therefore, the question of whether or not there will be another
Philomena
this winter, lacks scientific sense. "What the seasonal predictions point to are averages, probabilities and trends, but they do not detect extremes," said spokeswoman Beatriz Hervella. For his part, Del Campo has stressed that extreme events are, in addition to being unpredictable, very unlikely.
Filomena
was unprecedented in the last century and has a return period of 100 years, so the probability of it happening again this season is very low, 1%.
In addition to the impossibility of predicting cold waves or huge snowfalls so far in advance, it is added that there is no clear trend in the seasonal forecast for this winter, which for meteorology began on December 1 but for astronomy it will do so on Tuesday 21 December at 4:59 p.m. peninsular time. "In most of Spain there is no clear signal for precipitation. The climatological information indicates that the most probable thing is that it is drier in Galicia, Asturias and Castilla y León; and more humid the more to the east of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands" , has detailed Hervella. As for the temperature, there is not a clear signal in much of Spain either, although the probability is greater that it is warmer than normal in the northwest of the peninsula.
Aemet has also taken stock of autumn, which was the coldest in Spain since 2012 and dry in terms of rainfall, thus consolidating the meteorological drought in the south and northeast of the Peninsula, and released a first climatological summary of 2021. The average temperature has been, for the eighth consecutive year, above the average, in this case 0.4º more.
It has also been dry, at 538 liters per square meter, 15% below normal rainfall.
