Cold drop

A stationary cold low, in which a cold drop is found.

A cold drop[a] is a term used in Spain and France that has commonly come to refer to any high impact rainfall event occurring in the autumn along the Spanish Mediterranean coast or across France.[1] In Europe, cold drops belong to the characteristics of the Mediterranean climate.[2][3]

The Spanish-language name of gota fría was directly adapted from the term Kaltlufttropfen introduced by German meteorologists, and became very popular in 1980s Spain as a blanket term to refer to any high-impact rainfall event.[4]

In the Spanish Levante, these events are typically caused by the interaction of upper-level low pressure systems strangled and ultimately detached from the zonal (eastward) circulation displaying stationary or retrograde (westward) circulation with humid warmer air masses that form over an overheated Mediterranean Sea in the Autumn. The Spanish equivalent of cut-off low is DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos).[4] Such recurring synoptic configurations are not necessarily associated to cold drop events.[b]


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  1. ^ Martín León, Francisco (2003). "LAS GOTAS FRÍAS / DANAS IDEAS Y CONCEPTOS BÁSICOS" (PDF). Servicio de Técnicas de Análisis y Predicción, INM (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Los episodios de lluvias intensas otoñales en Francia: el cévenol". Tiempo.com (in European Spanish). 14 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ^ Cold drop meteorologiaenred.com
  4. ^ a b National Geographic Spanish edition article about DANA)
  5. ^ "Una DANA traerá 44 grados a partir del lunes según Aemet". El Correo de Andalucía. 9 July 2022.