Catalunya registered 39.5 degrees in Vinebre this Friday and broke the historical record for maximum temperature in a May, according to data from Meteocat. The new record surpasses the 38.5 degrees measured on Thursday at the same station in Ribera d'Ebre.
The episode also left new highs in the demarcation of Lleida and consolidated an unusual contrast for the end of May. While daytime records are being chained, the city of Lleida barely dropped below 20 degrees for 37 minutes in the early hours of the morning.
Vinebre reached 39.5 degrees and surpassed its own record in one day
The Vinebre station, in Terres de l'Ebre, went from 38.5 to 39.5 degrees in twenty-four hours. This Friday's record exceeds the historical May record that had already been updated the previous day.
In the demarcation of Lleida, Torres de Segre and Seròs reached 37.6 degrees this Friday. That figure also left behind the 37.3 degrees that had been registered on Thursday as the maximum reference for May.
Lleida city equaled its record for a May this Friday with 37.3 degrees, the same temperature it had already reached on Thursday. The repetition of this value confirms the persistence of the heat episode in the capital of Segrià.
Lleida city only dropped below 20 degrees for 37 minutes
Armand Álvarez, a meteorologist, focused on the behavior of the night in the Lleida capital, where the heat did not subside after sunset.
"Last night in Lleida city it was only below 20 degrees for 37 minutes, between 06:39 and 07:16" - Armand Álvarez, meteorologist
After those early hours, Álvarez warned that the next two nights could indeed be completely tropical. If this forecast is met, Lleida city would chain nocturnal lows without ever dropping below 20 degrees.
In addition to the specific records in Vinebre, Torres de Segre, Seròs, and Lleida city, the month's balance already marks another infrequent threshold. May already has four days with maximums of 35 degrees or more, a figure that constitutes a record for the last 86 years.