Yellow weather alerts in Malaga and along Costa del Sol this Saturday and Sunday due to further risk of downpours

The best news amid the chronic drought plaguing the province, especially the coast and the eastern areas, is that Spain's state meteorological agency (Aemet) forecasts continued rain, at least until Sunday.

"The weather front will move in and intensify over Malaga, and there may even be some storms, particularly during the early hours of Sunday," explains José Luis Escudero, a Malaga meteorologist and head of the SUR weather blog. He warns that the existing yellow weather alert may need to be raised to amber (moderate risk) at some point this weekend due to the potential for increased intensity of the downpours.

In fact, the yellow weather warning (low risk) remains in effect for Saturday and Sunday due to downpours that could reach intensities of up to 20mm in one hour, and 60mm in 12 hours. According to Aemet, this unstable weather will continue for almost the entire day on both days.

Specifically, the periods of greatest risk forecast by Aemet are until 8am this Saturday, and then from 6pm until midnight. As for Sunday, the worst rain is expected during the early morning hours: from midnight until 4am (Saturday night into Sunday morning). Subsequently, during the day, the rain will tend to subside considerably.

On Friday, Storm Claudia brought a shower of good news to the province with the downpours being a godsend for the fields and livestock.

The peak rainfall amounts did not reach the warning threshold, set at 20mm in one hour and 60mm in 12 hours in many areas.

Furthermore, irrigation is being widely distributed, precisely in the inland areas of the province where it is most beneficial for agricultural and livestock activities. Up until 5pm on Friday, the Aemet rain gauge at Ronda Instituto recorded more than 60mm between Thursday and Friday. The Junta de Andalucía's Hidrosur network in the same municipality also recorded similar rainfall totals.

That's regarding the rain gauges belonging to official services, because unofficial ones measured much more. Among those belonging to the Acamet network of amateur meteorologists, the most notable were 96mm in Llano Fuente de las Arenas, in the municipality of Ronda; 95mm in El Juanar and Benaoján; 93 in Pilones; 90 in Oreganal; 78 in Montejaque; and 70 in Atajate, to name just the most significant.

Returning to Hidrosur's official records, the Genal river saw some impressive figures in Jubrique, with 50mm, tied with Cortes de la Frontera. Good inflows also reached the reservoirs, as was the case with the La Concepción diversion dam in Guadalmina (45mm) and Guadalmansa (40).

Although rainfall is widespread in the province, as demonstrated yesterday by the data from the Grande river in the Guadalhorce (40mm), tied with Colmenar in the Axarquía area, Storm Claudia has actually been very generous, with rainfall totals of between 30 and 40mm recorded by numerous rain gauges in the regional network throughout the province.

As can be seen, several rain gauges already point to a benefit in the reservoir reserves, although it is not yet noticeable due to the balance between income and domestic water supply: that of La Concepción itself, which supplies the western Costa del Sol, and its diversion dams (Guadalmina, Guadalmansa and Guadaiza).

The Benamargosa river will also be affected, making its presence felt in La Viñuela, the main water source for the Axarquía area. As of 9am on Friday, only the Guadalteba reservoir had seen a slight increase in its net water level (77.67 million cubic metres compared to 77.64); the remaining reservoirs would experience a rise in water levels due to runoff in the coming hours. In fact, by 5pm many reservoirs were already close to reaching their levels from last week.