Laurence Dollimore
A SO-CALLED ‘bomb cyclone’ is expected to be felt in Spain this week, meteorologists have warned.
Weather experts have predicted a ‘double cyclogenesis’ in the Atlantic Ocean near the Iberian Peninsula.
Both have the potential to become ‘explosive’, causing knock on effects in multiple parts of Spanish territory, including rain and winds of up to 90km/hr.
Cyclogenesis is the process of storm formation. It is classified by drops in atmospheric pressure that can cause atmospheric instability, precipitation, winds and thunder.
When this process occurs very quickly, it is described as an ‘explosive cyclogenesis’ or ‘bomb cyclone’ (drops in atmospheric pressure of between 18 and 20 hectopascals in 24 hours), a situation could be seen this week.
Models predict that the first cyclogenesis will occur in the waters of the Cantabrian Sea on Wednesday (November 20).
The storm will bring rain that is expected to be heavy between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
The storm is expected to reach the northeast of Spain on Friday, before a second storm is expected to appear in the waters of the North Atlantic, near the British Isles.
While this potentially ‘explosive’ cyclogenesis will occur further away, its predicted reach is striking.
According to meteorologists, the cyclogenesis could generate a drop of up to 42 hPa in one day.
Ireland would be the most affected area, but a cold front associated with the storm could reach Spain as early as Sunday.
It comes as state weather agency Aemet has issued a series of alerts for this week.
Today, yellow warnings were issued for strong winds in Aragon, Castellon and parts of Barcelona.
An orange warning is also expected in parts of Tarragona due to winds of up to 90km/hr.
On Thursday, wind warnings will be issued across a large part of the north and east of the peninsula, including the Ebro valley and surrounding areas.
They will be especially prevalent in the southern interior of Valencia, where more gusts of up to 90 km/hr are expected.
Meanwhile, the northern half of the Galician coast and the entire Asturian coast is on an orange alert for Thursday. Aemet is predicting force 8 winds and rough seas.
The rest of the northern coast and some segments of the Mediterranean will be on a yellow-level warning.
