Cole Sinanian
AS freezing temperatures in the capital send Madrilenians shivering, their southern compatriots are facing an opposite extreme, with highs surpassing 20C expected throughout the Malaga province this weekend and early next week.
National weather service AEMET forecasts a low of 12C and a high of 21C in Malaga city on Sunday, January 14, and 22C on Monday, January 15 and Tuesday, January 16.
The normal January high in Malaga city is around 17C.
Temperatures will climb even higher in Marbella, with lows no cooler than 13C forecast between Sunday and Tuesday, and a high of 23C expected on Tuesday.
And temperatures on Sunday and Tuesday are expected to top 20C even in the hilly, typically cooler town of Antequera, where average January highs hover around 12C.
The heat will subside briefly in most municipalities by Wednesday, though may rise again towards the end of the week.
Malaga Meteorological Center director Jesus Riesco told Malaga Hoy that the balmy temperatures are due to a mass of warm air that will pass over the Iberian Peninsula over the next week, with warm temperatures expected throughout the country.
As far as precipitation, conditions will remain dry in Malaga through the weekend.
There’s a 65% chance of rain in Malaga city on Tuesday afternoon, and showers expected throughout the day on Wednesday, January 17.
The warm temperatures come after an unseasonably balmy autumn and a December marked by record-breaking heat, peaking at 29C on December 12, the highest in recorded history.
In 2023, Spain experienced one of the driest and warmest years on record.
Malaga had the second warmest autumn since record keeping began, surpassed only by the autumn of 2022, according to an AEMET report.
