Snow covers the highest peaks of Malaga province, with more forecast tonight and downpours of rain in many areas on Saturday

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Friday, 8 March 2024, 12:59 | Updated 13:13h.

As winter draws to a close, snow has finally made an appearance on the mountain peaks of the province. The Pilones pass, at an altitude of 1,400 metres in the Sierra de las Nieves; La Maroma and La Navachica, in the sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama, in the Axarquía, and Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja have dawned covered by a thin white blanket that fell during the early hours of this Friday morning (8 March).

It is, for the moment, only a thin layer, and the only official statistical reference available is that of the Junta de Andalucía's Hidrosur network: it has measured 0.4 millimetres, although it has been clearly deeper at the highest altitudes of the Serranía de Ronda.

Environmental agents in the area report that it has snowed in the Yunquera area, at around 1,500 metres above sea level, although the heaviest snow is expected to fall during this Friday night to Saturday. "Los Quejigales and lower areas", on the access to the Sierra de las Nieves from the road from Ronda to San Pedro Alcántara, will probably be snowed in tomorrow.

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Weather models predict that the heaviest falls could bring up to 50 centimetres of snow at the aforementioned points.

"The places where it has already arrived are above 1,100 metres above sea level. There has been a very light snowfall, especially in the lower areas, so it will melt quickly because the temperatures are not excessively cold," said José Miguel Marín, president of the Mancomunidad Sierra de las Nieves.

In terms of rainfall, the weekend weather forecast for Saturday warns of possible downpours of between 60 and 70mm in the Ronda area; 40 to 50mm north of Marbella (which will directly benefit La Concepción reservoir); and around 50mm in the interior of the Axarquía, which will be recorded in the La Viñuela reservoir. The area to benefit the least will be the Guadalhorce, although it is expected to receive 30 to 40mm for the system of reservoirs that supply Malaga city (Guadalhorce, Conde and Guadalteba).

Vanessa Melgar, Eugenio Cabezas and Alba Tenza contributed to this article.