Temperatures start to moderate after touching 45C in Malaga

Cártama in the Guadalhorce valley recorded the maximum in the province on Wednesday, with 44.8 degrees, and the airport, which is the official Aemet measurement point, reached 43C

Ignacio Lillo

Málaga

Thursday, 13 July 2023, 08:07 | Updated 08:14h.

The red level alert for high temperatures issued by the Spain's state weather agency (Aemet) in Malaga province yesterday, 12 July, was more justified. The maximum temperature forecast was 42C, and it reached 43 degrees at the airport (at 4.30pm), which is the official measurement point in Malaga for statistical purposes.

However, in Cártama in the Guadalhorce, a unofficial thermometer linked to Meteoclimatic network measured 44.8C (in the shade), while another Wunderground measurement in the same municipality measured 44.7 degrees, which shows that the reading is fairly accurate. At the same time, in Pizarra it reached 44C, in Álora 43.6 and in Coín 42.3 degrees.

A red warning for heat, the highest level of those activated by Aemet, is rarely seen in the province of Malaga, being much more common in Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Jaen. Yesterday was one of those rare occasions: for the first time so far this year, Aemet had to paint in this colour the meteorological region comprising of Malaga city, the Costa del Sol and the Guadalhorce valley. The arrival of a land-based 'terral' wind, which was strongly felt, joined the mass of warm air that had been affecting large parts of the country since the beginning of this week. The director of Aemet's Malaga weather centre, Jesús Riesco, explained that the red warning threshold is set at 42 degrees, which was exceeded.

For its part, Malaga city council partially activated the municipal emergency plan partially due to the risk of high temperatures, according to the 112 Andalucía emergency services coordination centre

At the same time, in Alto Guadalhorce (Coín, Álora, Pizarra, Cártama, etc.), the temperatures went above the 44 degrees initially predicted. The meteorologist described this region as "an oven": "Yesterday was the hottest day of the year without any doubt, and it may be until the end of the summer, unless a terral comes in again with a very warm air mass from the start", said Riesco. In addition to the aforementioned areas, weather warnings were also issued in coastal areas where the phenomenon of the warm west usually occurs, such as Estepona and Vélez.

However, the temperatures recorded fell just short from the highest in history, which was set 45 years ago on 18 July 1978, when it reached 44.2C at the airport. Aemet only takes into account this thermometer for statistical purposes, and not those in the interior of the province, which usually give higher values.

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