Alert for the possible formation of a medicán in the Mediterranean

Meteorologists warn of the possible formation of a medicán—hurricane in the Mediterranean—in the next few hours, a cyclone with characteristics similar to those of a hurricane that forms over the Mediterranean Sea. Catalonia is preparing to face a possible Mediterranean hurricane starting this afternoon, with rain accumulation of more than two hundred liters per square meter in about six hours and strong winds, with tornadoes and sea storms in some parts of the territory, Civil Protection and the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat) reported at a press conference.

Aemet warned that the most adverse situation is expected during the night of this Saturday and the first half of Sunday, with the risk of flooding and floods, and warned of an extraordinary danger given the intensity of the rainfall.

The high temperatures that the sea has reached this summer are one of the key ingredients for this phenomenon. After a summer that has broken all heat records to date – 2026 was the warmest in the historical series (beginning in 1961), with an average temperature of 24.5 ºC and 61 days under a heat wave – the Mediterranean has reached heat peaks in the Balearic Islands of more than 33º C or more than 30 °C in Tarragona and Barcelona.

The Medican, although it looks like a hurricane in satellite images, is usually smaller and less intense, they report in a post on X from the IGeo account. “Even so, it can generate strong winds, torrential rains and very dangerous waves.”

In September 2023, three years ago, a medican caused catastrophic floods in Libya, leaving behind more than 11,500 dead and 10,000 missing. The brutality of the phenomenon devastated the city of Derna, destroying nearly 900 buildings.

The word medicán is a term adapted from the English medicane (from Mediterranean and hurricane), used to refer, in general, "to Mediterranean cyclones that present tropical characteristics."