The Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro (CHE), the Ebro basin authority, has warned that intense rainfall on Sunday 16 August could cause sudden, localised rises in ravines and smaller watercourses in Lleida and Tarragona.

Residents and visitors close to these watercourses should follow Civil Protection instructions and monitor official weather and river-level information, as flows can increase quickly where heavy rain falls. Spain's State Meteorological Agency, AEMET, has yellow weather warnings in place for both Catalan provinces.

Smaller watercourses can respond quickly

CHE said its hydrological monitoring covers watercourses across the Ebro basin during the rainfall episode. Its warning is focused on barrancs, or ravines, and smaller channels, where intense rain can produce a rapid rise in flow without widespread river flooding.

  • Lleida and Tarragona are under AEMET yellow warnings on Sunday.
  • Teruel, in Aragón, and Castellón, in the Valencian Community, are under orange warnings.
  • La Rioja and Soria are also under yellow warnings.

The weather pattern is linked to the formation of a DANA, an isolated high-altitude depression, from an Atlantic trough. An Atlantic trough is an elongated area of lower pressure in the upper atmosphere that can encourage unstable weather.

“The formation of a DANA from an Atlantic trough will bring a change in the weather across the Iberian Peninsula, with intense showers and thunderstorms over wide areas.”AEMET weather forecast cited in the supplied report

Official monitoring channels

CHE advises people to check meteorological and hydrological updates while the unstable conditions continue, particularly near ravines and smaller channels susceptible to sudden increases in flow.

Water-level and rainfall records are available through the SAIH Ebro, the Ebro basin's Automatic Hydrological Information System. CHE also advises following instructions issued by emergency management and Civil Protection services.

Reported by CatalunyaPress.cat.