Blog Post 2

Weather station name: IBARCELO60

Spain is affected by more than one air mass.The air masses that affect spain are the Continental Tropical (cT), Maritime Tropical (mT), and even Maritime Arctic (mA). Barcelona sits on the Eastern coast of Spain, meaning it is affected greatly by the Mediterranean sea, which moderates temperatures. During the winter months, this air mass can cause unpredictable changes in weather, quickly changing from sunny weather to rain. Barcelona lies in the Levante region, which is characterized by sudden, strong rainstorms during the autumn months as a result of the Mediterranean air mass.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Map_Spain_Levante.png
The Levante region of Spain

http://www.icelandair.destination-guides.net/photos/Barcelona2.jpg
Barcelona beaches

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1256549/Snow-hits-Barcelona-bringing-Catalonia-standstill.html

While snow is rare in Barcelona, it has occurred to the delight, and dismay, of local Spaniards.

As for the near future, Barcelona has this to look forward to:

http://www.meteorologica.info/Euroisobars.htm
This actively refreshing image from Meteorologica shows the locations of cold, warm, and occluded fronts over Europe. At the time of this publishing, a cold front is pushing across the Iberian Peninsula, bringing clouds and rain to Barcelona.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Barcelona+Spain+SPXX0015
10 day forecast for the beginning of November. As can be observed, the autumn months  have an abundance of rain showers that can quickly appear, rain, and disappear unpredictably.

http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/ferrang/1/video.html?month=10&year=2011&filename=20111031.flv
This image from a weather camera located in the hills outside of Barcelona shows some of the clouds moving over the area as a result of the cold front move across the Iberian Peninsula.

http://www.weather.com/maps/geography/europe/index_large.html
A front is moving through Spain and is bringing rain across most of the Iberian Peninsula. Barcelona, on the East coast of the country, is going to experience this front within the next few hours.

Getting Acclimatized

Weather station name: IBARCELO60

This station sits in the city of Barcelona, just a few blocks south of Camp Nou where FC Barcelona plays.
Barcelona's average temperature sits just below 65 degrees. During the summer months it can get into the 90s and in winter months down to the 50s. Not much precipitation falls in Barcelona, meaning even in the colder months, the sun still shines on a regular basis.

I spent some time in Barcelona during the early part of August. I found the weather to be warm and sometimes humid. Unlike more inland parts of the country, Barcelona maintained a steady warm temperature, never becoming too warm. Cities like Sevilla, which are located inland and are not near large bodies of water, become very hot during the summer.

I also noticed the weather in Barcelona seemed very similar to San Diego, CA.

http://www.thepropertyfinders.com/images/locations/barcelona_map.jpg

Barcelona is located in the Northeast part of the country, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/wxStationGraphAll?
day=17&year=2011&month=10&ID=IBARCELO60&type=0&width=500&showtemp=1&showpressure=1&showwind=1&showwinddir=1&showrain=1

As can be seen from the weather so far this year, Barcelona has experienced its highest temperatures in the month of August, topping out close to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Shortly into September, temperatures were seen dropping off and becoming cooler. Looking at the rain graph, mostly sunny days with a few periods of downfall up to almost 3 inches during the peak rainfall periods can be observed.