Civil Protection has activated the alert phase of the flood plan due to the episode of intense rainfall forecast for Tuesday afternoon in a large part of Catalonia. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia has raised the warnings to orange in Vallès, Baix Llobregat, Bages, Anoia, and Moianès, with a forecast of up to 20 liters per square meter in 30 minutes.
The maximum level of danger expected for this episode remains at a three out of six, but the warning map covers areas from inland regions to almost all of the Catalan coast and pre-coast. While the official threshold remains in an intermediate range, Civil Protection asks for extreme caution due to the risk of floods and damage to infrastructure.
The rains will intensify from 2 p.m. and will continue until at least 8 p.m.
Meteocat technicians place the first showers and downpours from midday in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees, and prelitoral. During the afternoon, the forecast extends the precipitation to the entire territory.
The most delicate period will arrive around 2 PM, when the rain will intensify, and the strong episode will last at least until 8 PM. In that interval, the orange alert affects regions with high metropolitan mobility such as Vallès and Baix Llobregat, in addition to Bages, Anoia, and Moianès.
In parallel, the rest of the coastal and pre-coastal regions remain on yellow alert from l'Alt Empordà to el Montsià, passing through el Barcelonès. The forecast thus outlines a continuous impact in the most populated strip of the country and in several usual travel corridors.
Civil Protection asks to avoid flood-prone areas on the coast and pre-coast
Civil Protection has called for caution in travel and activities in flood-prone areas due to the possibility of localized flooding and infrastructure problems. The warning comes on an afternoon when instability will advance from the Pyrenees towards the rest of Catalonia.
In addition to the threshold foreseen in the counties with a orange alert, Meteocat does not rule out more intense records in specific points of the pre-coastal area and the northeast quadrant. This combination can translate into abundant accumulations in a short time, especially in areas where the showers discharge in a more concentrated way.
"In points of the pre-coastal area and the northeast quadrant, it is not ruled out that they may be of strong intensity and accumulate abundant amounts" - technicians from Meteocat, Meteorological Service of Catalonia
The episode will start with the first downpours at noon in the Pyrenees, the Pre-Pyrenees and the pre-coastal areas, and the forecast maintains heavy rains until at least 8 p.m. on Tuesday.