Climate in Madrid and the Pyrenees Mountains by Rachel Buckner

From GeoClasses

1 Audio
2 Madrid's Climate
3 Spanish Pyrenees Mountain’s Climate
4 Glacier Melting in the Spanish Pyrenees
5 References

Audio

Narration by Rachel Buckner: Media:Buckner.wav

Madrid's Climate

As a young girl, my mom grew up in the city of Madrid because my grandfather was based there in the military, and it is my grandmother’s home town. Madrid is the capital of Spain and is located at 40 degrees north and 3 degrees west. The Sierra de Guadarrama and the Sierra de Gredos mountain ranges divide the city in half. Madrid also runs along the Manzanares River. Many rolling hills cover the city. It is located on a plateau called Meseta at 2,120 feet above sea level. Due to this, it receives more sunshine than any other capital city in Europe. This could be a problem in July and August when the temperatures are at an all time high for the year. During these months, the temperature can reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius; however the low humidity makes being outdoors a little more tolerable.

The Mediterranean climate of Madrid can be quite extreme due to the fact that its location is fairly elevated in the center of Spain, but overall, it has a pretty mild climate. There are warm ocean waters along the western coast of Spain due to the Gulf Stream. This makes the winters in Spain fairly moderate. The prevailing winds also bring warm air in from the oceans. Snow is not common during the winters, but temperatures do fall below the freezing point. On the other hand, the summers in Madrid can be extremely hot. Summer evenings are more pleasant due to the wind from the Sierra de Guadarrama Mountains. These are also the same winds that can make the temperatures in the winter seem colder than they actually are. Below are the average monthly temperatures for Spain. The first table is in Celsius. The second table is in Fahrenheit and also shows the average rainfall.

The following are the normal monthly temperatures in Celsius:

The following are the normal monthly temperatures in Fahrenheit and the average monthly rainfall:

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Spanish Pyrenees Mountain’s Climate

Since my grandmother’s family lived on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains, my mother spent a lot of her childhood traveling to northern Spain. These mountains form the border between Spain and France. The western side of these mountains are wet, and the eastern side is dry. Even though these mountains are found in Spain and France, their climates are very different. It is much warmer on the Spanish side which calls for low vegetation and dotted pine trees. The French side has much more vegetation with beech and oak trees. Several decades ago, there was a destruction of olive groves on the Spanish Pyrenees. Due to this, the Spanish Pyrenees not only show off a desolate nature but also a beautiful one.

The overall climate of the Pyrenees is that of a temperature mountain region. In April and May, there can be an abundance of rain. The high pressure that is present from September through November makes for clear blue skies. Mid afternoon thunderstorms are not uncommon during the summer months. Some are even violent. Temperatures usually begin to drop around November. The snow that does fall usually melts to an elevation of about 1000 meters. January, February, and March mark the winter months for the Pyrenees.

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Glacier Melting in the Spanish Pyrenees

Glacier Melting. copyright Greenpeace.

Something of interest about the Spanish Pyrenees is that their glaciers are melting fast. The total surface area of the glaciers has dropped 1489 hectares from 1894 to 2000. 52% of this drop has occurred in the last 20 years. There are currently ten glaciers and nine ice banks. The melting is blamed on human induced climate.

Decline of Pyrenean glaciers (1994-2001):