Weather conditions to improve after wildfire causes 'calamity' in Portugal's only national park

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

September 9,2016; 8:24PM,EDT

 

 

As several massive wildfires continue to rage across Spain and Portugal, improving weather conditions may help firefighters contain the blazes into next week.
Cooler air has already knocked heat down from record levels across Spain and Portugal earlier this week.
The cooler air has allowed the thousands of firefighters to gain an upper hand on some of the blazes.
Fires have burned 100,000 acres in Spain so far this year and nearly 265,000 acres in Portugal, according to Agence France-Presse.

More than 3,000 firefighters battled 80 active fires on Wednesday, according to Portugal's civil protection agency. Eleven large fires continue to burn, the largest of which involves over 400 firefighters.
A fire tore through Portugal's only national park, Peneda-Geres, near the Spain border and caused severe damage.
"Pastures have burned, there is nothing for livestock to eat," the deputy mayor of the border town of Arcos de Valdevez, Helder Barros, said, according to The Telegraph.
"It is a calamity for the natural park, the only one in Portugal, and for tourism," he said.
A fire in Spain caused the evacuation of around 1,400 people from the popular resort of Benidorm. More than 300 firefighters and 65 vehicles were utilized to fight the fire, according to the Associated Press.
A wildfire burns nearby Benitachel village, eastern Spain, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. Spanish firefighters are still working to bring under control a forest blaze near Valencia that forced the evacuation of around 1,000 people. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
"While the heat wanes, it will remain dry through the weekend, which will not be helpful to combat the fires," AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys said.
"More relief is on the way as a storm system will arrive next week with beneficial rain," he said.
A plane flies as a wildfire burns nearby Benitachel village, near Benidorm, eastern Spain, Monday, Sept. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
Along with rain, temperatures will continue to fall on Tuesday and reach below-normal levels across the majority of Spain and Portugal by Wednesday and Thursday.
The combination of significant cooling and beneficial rainfall will yield improved conditions for firefighters. In addition, the threat for other fires to spark will diminish.
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A several-day-long rain event could result in 25-75 mm (1-3 inches) of rainfall across northern Portugal and northern Spain next week.
Rainfall totals of 12-25 mm (0.50-1.00 inch) are possible in southern Portugal and central and eastern Spain. Less rainfall is anticipated in southern and southeast Spain.
While gusts near 50 km/h (30 mph) are possible with the storm system next week, lower temperatures and rainfall will offset any negative effects of the wind across the region.