On March 5, 2020, before the period of confinement and social distancing necessary due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first two weather stations under the FIRESTORM project were installed in Seia.
One of the weather stations was installed in Senhora do Espinheiro, located in the northwest side of the Serra da Estrela, at an altitude of 995 m (Figure 1), and the other one was installed in Seia Aerodrome, which is located at the base of the Serra da Estrela, in an open valley, at an altitude of 440 m (Figure 2).
We are grateful for all the assistance provided by the Municipality of Seia, in particular the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Seia, in the whole process, from the choice of locations to the installation phase.
The first temperature data for the station in the Seia region can be found in Figure 3. It is possible to identify a greater daily temperature range in the valley region than in the mountain region. During this period, the data allows us to verify that between 10th and 12th of March, an episode of thermal inversion occurred. For example, on day 11th at 6UTC, values of 15.3 °C to 995m and 4 °C to 440m were observed. This will be one of the study topics addressed in the FIRESTORM project.
Two other portable weather stations will be installed in Candal and Trevim, in the region of Lousã (see FIRESTORM news “Selection of the location for installation of weather stations”, on 22nd of November 2019). However, given the current restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not possible at this time to predict when these stations will be installed.