By Humphrey Carter
CHRISTMAS is just around the corner and the odds on a white one are looking white good at the moment.
Majorca's first sprinkling of snow this winter is forecast for this week and many will be hoping that the Balearics will have another huge dump of snow over Christmas and New Year like last year when it even snowed on the beaches. The forecast for the week ahead points to a deterioration in the weather tomorrow with snow forecast at 1000 metres, the peaks of the Sierra de Tramuntana with light showers and the odd storm nearer sea level. The temperatures will start to drop slightly from this evening with the worst of this new cold front expected to grip the region this weekend.
So, the first snow flakes should fall on Majorca tomorrow with more snow forecast up in the mountains for Thursday along with another slight drop in temperatures. The end of the week, in particular the weekend, will remain unsettled with the threat of more snow flurries lingering in the Balearics.
On the mainland, for example, the snow level in Cataluña is going to fall to as low as 200 metres by Friday.
Apart from the snow, which is unlikely to cause any problems, just a major sensation and attraction, what people, drivers in particular, are being warned about over the next few days is the effects of the overnight freezes. Farmers are also keeping a close eye on their crops and the temperature.
Many people will remember the heavy snowfalls of Christmas and New Year last year.
The picture above, for example, was taken a few days before Christmas but the big dump came on December 27 with the Sierra de Tramuntana being closed to all traffic for a new number days while roads were cleared and made safe. At the moment, meteorologists do not think that the Christmas and New Year snowfalls, is the Balearics does have a white Christmas again, will be as heavy as last year however, there is plenty of time for the weather to change dramatically. Despite the heavy flooding in the north east of the island earlier this month, this winter is proving to be a relatively dry one, rather like last winter, and what is needed is, not more snow, but steady rain to top up the reservoirs and wells otherwise the region faces the prospect of being put on a drought standing next summer. In the meantime, keep your winter warmers handy.
SNOW FORECAST