The episode of exceptional heat for early September affecting Spain is facing its most intense days. The so-called heat dome will reach its peak between this Thursday and Friday, with maximums that could be around 42 or 43 degrees in points of the southern and western peninsula.
This Wednesday, there are already eight autonomous communities under some type of weather warning for high temperatures, rains, or storms. Andalucía concentrates some of the most important warnings for heat.
The situation is associated with a persistent area of high pressure over the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which favors the descent and warming of the air and keeps temperatures elevated for several days.
What is a heat dome
The term "heat dome" describes an atmospheric configuration in which an area of high pressure remains practically stationary over a territory.
The air descends, compresses, and heats up while the high pressures hinder its renewal. The result is a kind of atmospheric lid that allows heat to accumulate for several days.
The current situation will leave temperatures more typical of the height of summer than of the first days of September.
This Wednesday, temperatures may exceed 36 degrees in large areas of the northeast, center, and southern peninsula, while in areas of Sevilla, Córdoba, and Jaén there is a possibility of reaching 40 degrees.
Up to 42 degrees on Thursday and 43 in Badajoz
Thursday will be one of the most complicated days.
Forecasts indicate temperatures of up to 42 degrees in the fields of Sevilla and Córdoba and similar values in areas of Jaén.
In some urban forecasts, Córdoba and Sevilla may reach 42 degrees, while Badajoz could reach up to 43 degrees.
Orange warnings for high temperatures will extend over areas of Andalucía, Castilla-La Mancha, and Extremadura, along with numerous yellow warnings in other communities.
Tropical nights are also expected, with minimums that will not drop below 20 degrees in numerous points of the Mediterranean coasts and the southern half of the peninsula.
On Friday, warnings for high temperatures increase
The episode will continue on Friday, when the number of territories under warning will increase.
Values may again exceed 40 degrees in interior areas of the valleys of the Tajo, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir, while much of the interior peninsula will surpass 35 degrees.
There is also the presence of suspended dust expected in areas of the Peninsula and the archipelagos.
Despite the intensity of the episode, the expected conditions do not have to meet the criteria established by Aemet to formally declare a heat wave, which depend on the duration, territorial extension, and intensity of the temperatures.
The risk of fires will increase
The high temperatures will also have consequences on the danger of forest fires.
Aemet has warned that the risk will be very high in numerous areas and will increase over the coming days, so it has urged to take extreme precautions.
The rise in temperatures is already arriving this Wednesday at numerous points. Aemet stations recorded in the early afternoon 34.2 degrees in Aranjuez, for example, on a day when the thermometers continued to rise.