Barcelona faces this Thursday, May 28, the most intense stretch of the heat episode, with maximums predicted up to 35 degrees on the coast and 35 to 36 degrees in the pre-coastal area. The peak will also reach the Catalan coast and pre-coastal areas, while in the interior and Ponent the highest values will shift between Thursday and Friday the 29th.
The situation leaves an unusual figure for the end of May. The Catalan capital could exceed its historical maximum temperature for the month this Thursday, set at 34.4 degrees on May 22, 2022, with expected readings of 34 to 35 degrees in the upper part of the city and 32 to 34 degrees in the plain and the coastal facade.
The garbí will push Barcelona up to 35 degrees on the coast
The garbí wind will be one of the factors that could send thermometers soaring on the coast. This flow could raise temperatures on the coast to highs close to 35 degrees, on a day when Collserola and the upper part of Barcelona are among the points with the highest forecasts.
In the pre-coastal area, especially towards the Vallès Penedès depression, values of 35 to 36 degrees are expected on Thursday. In parallel, the Barcelona plain and the maritime facade will be slightly below, although also with clearly high readings for a month of May, between 32 and 34 degrees.
Beyond the capital, the interior of Girona, Central Catalonia, and the Pla de Lleida will reach maximums of 35 to 37 degrees on Thursday. The episode will not be limited to the metropolitan area and will have a wide extension from the Barcelona coast to the inland counties.
On Friday the coast will drop slightly, but Ponent and Ebre will reach 40 degrees
On Friday, the thermal behavior on the Barcelona coastal strip will change. The sea breeze regime will prevail on the coast and cause a slight drop in temperature, while the interior may enter the hottest day of the entire episode.
Two areas stand out there. The Pla de Lleida and the interior of Ebre will rise on Friday to 38 to 40 degrees, after an already very warm Thursday in which a large part of the interior of Girona and Central Catalonia will have been around or exceeded 35 degrees.
The forecast also brings several Barcelona observatories close to their May reference marks. In the Meteocat network, the maximum temperature records for this month are 33.4 degrees in Raval, 34.5 in the Universitària area, and 33.8 in the Zoo.
Barcelona is close to its May highs and has no precedent for torrid nights
Another of the values to follow will be that of Corts Can Bruixa, where the absolute maximum for May stands at 33.1 degrees since May 22, 2022. If the forecasts for the upper part of the city are met, several points in Barcelona could be above these thresholds on Thursday.
In Catalonia as a whole, the highest readings in May correspond to 38.5 degrees measured in Castellbisbal and Anglès on May 22, 2022. The State Meteorological Agency also records absolute maximums of 36.8 degrees in Lleida and 37.3 at Girona airport.
In terms of minimums, Barcelona maintains a limit that it has not yet broken in May. A minimum temperature above 25 degrees has never been measured in the city and the highest value remains 22.6 degrees at the Corts Can Bruixa observatory, recorded on May 29, 2001.