The districts of Aveiro, Braga, Porto and Viana do Castelo will be under a yellow warning on Friday due to rain and thunderstorms, sometimes intense, the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) revealed on Thursday.
The yellow warning issued by the IPMA is for the same time in the four districts: between midnight and 3 pm on Friday, for “rain, sometimes intense and accompanied by thunder.”
IPMA warns that “the appearance of heavy rainfall in the coming days in regions that became vulnerable after the recent fires, with the consequent loss of vegetation cover, increases the risk associated with possible runoff.”
On Friday, “showers are expected, which could be strong in the North and Central regions, especially in the Miño and Duero coasts and in mountainous areas, and thunderstorms may also occur, although with low probability,” details the IPMA.
The institute says that what is at stake is a “depression centered west of the continent and a low trough of depression moving south/southwest,” which leads to the prediction, for this afternoon, “the appearance of scattered showers, sometimes accompanied by storms and convective gusts, being more likely inland.”
“The atmospheric instability expected this afternoon creates local conditions for the ongoing fires to produce pyrocumulus clouds. [nuvem densa, também designada por nuvem de fogo]that have the potential to change the local wind regime,” he adds.
“Following the violent fires, a huge column of ash was generated which, in addition to spreading across the Atlantic, reached the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, impacting air quality,” the IPMA also states.
“With the expected rotation of the wind towards the western quadrant during the weekend, a part of this plume towards the west of the continental territory will be advected [deslocação de uma massa de ar no sentido horizontal] again for the North and Central regions.”
This can “reach the interior of these regions and influence air quality.”
Seven people have died and 161 have been injured in the fires that have been raging since Sunday in the northern and central regions of the country, in the districts of Aveiro, Porto, Vila Real, Braga, Viseu and Coimbra, and which have destroyed dozens of homes.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) has recorded five deaths, excluding from the count two civilians who died from sudden illness.
The area burned in mainland Portugal since Sunday exceeds 121,000 hectares, according to the European Copernicus system, which shows that more than 100,000 hectares have already burned in the North and Central regions, 83% of the area burned in the entire national territory.
According to the IPMA, the yellow warning is issued when “a risk situation is expected for certain activities depending on the weather situation.”
Source: Observadora
