It looks like Tibidabo gave us a little warning a few days ago with its anecdotal snowfall, but what’s coming now is no rehearsal. Barcelona is getting ready to enter fully into the weather tunnel and, as the popular calendar dictates, the arrival of the “Setmana dels Barbuts” will bring with it the harshest cold of the winter. Starting this weekend, the coats we left open during Christmas will have to be buttoned up because the thermometers in the Catalan capital are preparing for a drop of almost 10 degrees.
Although climate change sometimes confuses us with winters that feel like springs, the statistics don’t lie. Historically, the days surrounding the festivities of Sant Pau Ermità, Sant Maur and Sant Antoni Abat (January 15-17) record the lowest temperatures of the year in the upper layers of the atmosphere. This year history repeats itself and the entry of a mass of icy air will make the atmosphere go from cool to purely wintry in a matter of hours.
Why this is officially the week of sneezing
The name of this week is not a coincidence or an aesthetic whim. It is so named because of the coincidence in the saints’ calendar of several saints who are always depicted with long, thick, white beards, a visual symbol that our ancestors associated with snow and frost. The saying “Setmana dels Barbuts, setmana d’esternuts” (bearded week, sneezing week) makes more sense than ever these days.
Data from Meteocat and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) confirm that, although the drop will be progressive from Wednesday, the “climax” of the cold will come between Saturday and Sunday. It will be then when the minimums plummet and we feel that cold that, as they say in the villages, “gets into the bones”. In addition, the wind chill could be even lower due to the humidity, as the forecast indicates that the sky will not only stay cold, but will also bring water.
Rain and scarves to say goodbye to January
If you were waiting for the time to take out the umbrella and stop looking at the sky for clouds, the second half of January seems to be the answer. After the thermal dip over the weekend, instability will gain prominence. The week from January 19 to 25 is expected to be especially rainy in Barcelona, breaking with the dry trend of recent months and keeping the mercury values in the usual average for the season.
The good news for those who can’t stand the extreme cold is that, once this blast of the “Barbuts” is over, the last week of January will give us a break. Weather models suggest that thermometers will return to statistical normality as of the 26th, bidding farewell to the month with more stable weather. For now, the advice is clear: do not trust the midday sun and get ready, because the bearded saints come this year with the desire to fulfill the tradition to the letter.