'Terral' wind returns to Costa del Sol: how long will it last and what maximum temperatures are expected?

It's here again. The dreaded land-based, 'terral' wind is on its way back to Malaga province and will make its presence felt this Wednesday 27 August and it threatens to stay at least until Friday. Spain's state meteorological agency (Aemet) has in fact activated a yellow warning for heat tomorrow, Wednesday,for the western Costa del Sol, Malaga city and the Guadalhorce valley area, where maximum temperatures of 36C are expected. The warning will be in force from 1pm to 9pm.

The head of Aemet's Malaga weather centre, Jesús Riesco, stressed that this land-based wind "will affect some areas of the Mediterranean, specifically in Malaga, between Wednesday and Friday".

According to Riesco, this meteorological phenomenon will be accompanied by maximum temperatures that will reach 36C on Wednesday, 33 degrees on Thursday and 34C on Friday.

José Luis Escudero, local weather forecaster and author of the SUR blog 'Tormentas y Rayos' (storms and lightning), forecasts the same days of terral: "with the updated weather models, it is very likely that we will have three days of terral and poniente winds", he warns. "Tomorrow Wednesday in the early afternoon there will be strong gusts of terral and poniente along the coast of Malaga province, having a "fresh" air mass at 850 hpa, the maximum temperatures will not be very high in the usual areas", he said on his blog this Tuesday.

For Thursday, Escudero explains that the cooler air mass will continue throughout the Andalucía region: "I expect strong westerly gusts and land on the coast of Malaga, with a probable yellow warning for coastal phenomena. As far as maximum temperatures are concerned, I don't expect the maximum in Malaga city to exceed 32C, in other words, a mild terral", he pointed out. In fact, he expects that the maximum and minimum temperatures in the Ronda and Antequera areas could even be "below average".

For Friday, the Malaga weather expert assures us that "we will continue with the terral and the poniente winds" but that the gusts of will not be so strong on the coast of Malaga province. "The maximum temperatures in the usual areas where the terral is blowing will rise a little compared to Thursday. But as I have said from the beginning, very high temperatures are not expected, as is the case with the usual terrals in summer".

Finally, Escudero pointed out that the current sea water temperature is 20.4C, and that it is likely to reach 22C this Tuesday. "By the weekend it will drop again to between 17C and 18C, which will be very good for falling asleep with the cooler breezes," he said.