In many parts of Spain, temperatures have been above average for several days in March 2023. Significantly affected are regions in southern Spain and the Balearic Islands.
Since the beginning of March, Spain has experienced high temperatures with less precipitation- there was even the first major forest fire in Eastern Spain. This was an abrupt weather change since a heavy storm brought snow to some regions at the end of February, as reported in our weather news. The current weather is a stable high-pressure front southwest of Spain originating in the Atlantic. This typically warms air masses and leads to dry conditions and low wind speeds as air masses sink and heat up. However, a low-pressure system in the north causes these air masses to flow away from the high-pressure centre, which leads other air masses to sink to replace the air masses carried away, which is why we expect the summer weather to remain for a few more days
We took a deeper look at Murcia, a city in southeastern Spain. Daily maximum temperatures have reached at least 20 degrees since the 6th of March, with virtually no precipitation. The maximum temperatures even reached 33°C, which is untypical for March. This can be analysed with our weather archive.
When looking at typical weather patterns of each location worldwide, we recommend using our climate diagrams based on 30 years of historical weather data. For example, the climate diagram for Murcia confirms that the above-described temperatures and precipitation amounts are rather unusual. This is further confirmed when looking at the precipitation anomaly weather map showing whether the weather is dry or wet. Especially in the Eastern part of Spain, it becomes visible that the precipitation sums were really low compared to 40 years of historical weather data from our unique simulation models.
The heat is expected to continue over the next few days until Saturday, as shown in our temperature weather map and extreme forecast map. On Sunday, the temperatures are decreasing to normal levels, whereas still no precipitation is expected for the next 14 days.
