The tropical minimum temperatures have already arrived in Barcelona at the end of May 2026 and also at the Fabra Observatory, a nocturnal threshold that is reached when the temperature does not drop below 20 ºC.
The data contrasts with the historical reference of the observatory itself, where the first night of this type usually occurs on average in mid-June. The anticipation confirms a trend that has been gaining ground over the last century and which in the city already results in nearly a hundred tropical minimums per year.
The Fabra Observatory advanced the first night of 20 ºC by ten days in a century
The records of the Fabra Observatory place the first tropical minimum around June 16th currently. A hundred years ago, that average date fell on June 26th.
That ten-day shift summarizes a sustained change in Barcelona's nights. Although the observatory can record these values since May, its usual behavior continued to place that first episode well into June.
The historical series also records extremes that are very far apart. The earliest record corresponds to May 15, 1945, while in 1977 no tropical minimum was recorded in the entire year.
The flat area of Barcelona is usually twenty days ahead of the observatory
In the flat area of the city, the first tropical minimums usually occur at the end of May or the beginning of June. That moment is around the 150th day of the year, about twenty days earlier than at the Fabra Observatory.
The difference between the flat part and the high areas is part of Barcelona's thermal pattern. In elevated sectors, tropical nights can also appear in mid-May or even early May due to thermal inversions, as already happened in 2020.
Another recent piece of data in the Fabra series is added to this evolution. On April 10th, the observatory recorded a minimum of 19.0 ºC, the highest temperature ever recorded there in the month of April.
Barcelona currently registers nearly a hundred tropical minimums per year, while the earliest record at the Fabra Observatory remains fixed at May 15, 1945.