Stormy pattern may help refill vital reservoirs across Spain
By
Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Mar 12, 2020 9:41 PM EDT
Shoppers waiting to enter a supermarket in Florence, Italy, distanced themselves from one another on March 11, as coronavirus continues to grip the country.
A parade of storms moving into northern Europe will bring rounds of wet weather to Spain through at least early week.
The first storm moved through the United Kingdom late last week and brought a cold front to northwestern Spain. As this storm arrived and pushed across Spain it sparked isolated showers and thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday.
Showers began to develop across much of Spain and into southern France as the next cold front arrived late Sunday and continued to move through the area on Monday.
On Monday, a new storm will begin to organize over southwestern Europe along the front. As this storm strengthens, it will pull in more moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, creating areas of steadier rain in far southern France as well as northern and eastern Spain.
This will also help to produce thunderstorms across these areas. Any heavy storm can produce flooding rainfall and strong wind gusts.
"The strongest storms may also be able to produce hail," added AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.
Widespread wind gusts will also increase as the storm strengthens to start the week. Gusts can reach up to 75 km/h (46 mph) in the higher elevations.
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"Widespread rainfall totals of 25-50 mm (1-2 inches) are expected in northeastern Spain and southern France. In the higher elevations o eastern Spain, rainfall totals can reach 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 200 mm (8 inches) possible," said Roys.
Localized flooding will be possible, mainly in low-lying and poor drainage areas. If roadways are flooded, the safest course of action is to turn around and locate an alternate route.
Despite the risk for flooding, periods of rain to start the week will be welcome across the country.
"Rainfall during this time of year helps to fill important reservoirs to ensure a sufficient water supply during the summer months," stated Roys.
Cooler air arriving with the storm will drop snow levels enough for precipitation to fall as snow in the mountains of Spain. Plenty of moisture could allow snow to accumulate up to 30 cm (1 foot) in the highest elevations.
By Tuesday, the storm is expected to begin to lose energy and run out of moisture as it begins to retrograde to the west. While areas of showers are forecast to linger across Spain, the steadiest rain will break up.
The storm is forecast to continue to tracking to the south and southwest and dry conditions will return into the middle of the week.
However, the storm could stall just southwest of Spain. In this situation, it could continue to bring rounds of rain and thunderstorms to the country.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather Forecasts
Stormy pattern may help refill vital reservoirs across Spain
By Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Mar 12, 2020 9:41 PM EDT
Shoppers waiting to enter a supermarket in Florence, Italy, distanced themselves from one another on March 11, as coronavirus continues to grip the country.
A parade of storms moving into northern Europe will bring rounds of wet weather to Spain through at least early week.
The first storm moved through the United Kingdom late last week and brought a cold front to northwestern Spain. As this storm arrived and pushed across Spain it sparked isolated showers and thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday.
Showers began to develop across much of Spain and into southern France as the next cold front arrived late Sunday and continued to move through the area on Monday.
On Monday, a new storm will begin to organize over southwestern Europe along the front. As this storm strengthens, it will pull in more moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, creating areas of steadier rain in far southern France as well as northern and eastern Spain.
This will also help to produce thunderstorms across these areas. Any heavy storm can produce flooding rainfall and strong wind gusts.
"The strongest storms may also be able to produce hail," added AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.
Widespread wind gusts will also increase as the storm strengthens to start the week. Gusts can reach up to 75 km/h (46 mph) in the higher elevations.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"Widespread rainfall totals of 25-50 mm (1-2 inches) are expected in northeastern Spain and southern France. In the higher elevations o eastern Spain, rainfall totals can reach 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 200 mm (8 inches) possible," said Roys.
Localized flooding will be possible, mainly in low-lying and poor drainage areas. If roadways are flooded, the safest course of action is to turn around and locate an alternate route.
Despite the risk for flooding, periods of rain to start the week will be welcome across the country.
"Rainfall during this time of year helps to fill important reservoirs to ensure a sufficient water supply during the summer months," stated Roys.
Cooler air arriving with the storm will drop snow levels enough for precipitation to fall as snow in the mountains of Spain. Plenty of moisture could allow snow to accumulate up to 30 cm (1 foot) in the highest elevations.
Related:
By Tuesday, the storm is expected to begin to lose energy and run out of moisture as it begins to retrograde to the west. While areas of showers are forecast to linger across Spain, the steadiest rain will break up.
The storm is forecast to continue to tracking to the south and southwest and dry conditions will return into the middle of the week.
However, the storm could stall just southwest of Spain. In this situation, it could continue to bring rounds of rain and thunderstorms to the country.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo