The average temperature in Canary Islands in July it was 23.5 degrees, with an anomaly of +1.2 degrees above the reference series average, corresponding to a very warm character. These figures make it the sixth warmest July since 1961.
The average value of accumulated precipitation was 0.9 mm, 100% of the expected value, placing it as a normal rainfall month, according to the reference series 1991-2020, being the 24th wettest since 1961, according to the Climatological Advance of the Canary Islands July 2023, prepared by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet)
During more than half of the month (18 days) the average temperature in the archipelago remained at values significantly above the average of the reference series. If the number of stations that have recorded tropical nights is considered, in addition to their high number (94 stations), it is observed that of these, 24 stations recorded tropical nights for at least 30 days per month.
Likewise, there were tropical nights in many stations located in mountainous areas, above 1,000 meters of altitude, and even in stations located above 2,000 meters, as is the case of the Boys roque (The Palm, 2223 m. altitude, 2 tropical nights), Parador de las Cañadas (Tenerife2,150 m altitude, 2 tropical nights), Chavao (Tenerife, 2,071 m altitude, 8 tropical nights) and Izaña (Tenerife, 2,369 m altitude, 3 tropical nights).
Besides, 44 stations measured, at least one day of the month, minimum temperatures greater than or equal to 25 degrees (118 records, adding stations and days in which they measured the indicated values). and 8 stations recorded minimum temperatures greater than or equal to 30 degrees.
Although there was a marked warm episode -between days 10 and 14-, in which high maximum temperatures were recorded, the greatest contribution to the increases in average temperature were due to the values above the average that marked, persistently and in numerous stations, the minimum temperatures.
As to warm episodesthe most significant were those from days 1 to 5 and, above all, from days 10 to 14, as well as a marked rise in temperatures on days 30 and 31. Between days 1 and 5, on an anticyclonic situation of starting, the eastward displacement of the Atlantic anticyclone, from an initial position close to the Azores, increased the flow of the eastern component, making it possible for warmer and drier air masses to reach the islands.
At the same time, the ridge (in height) located over northwest Africa moved westward, approaching the archipelago and introducing a southeasterly flow, with marked warm advection.
In the episode from days 10 to 14, the synoptic situation was very similar to that of days 1 to 5, although with the Atlantic anticyclone located to the north of the Canary Islands and inducing a more powerful flow from the east, with much drier air and warm and with the African ridge standing over the islands and causing a much more intense warm advection, with the entry of haze, which began affecting, above all, areas of summits and midlands.
Between the 10th and 15th, orange level warnings were issued for areas of all the islands, reaching the red level in the case of the southern, eastern and western areas of the island. gran canaria island. The criteria for classifying the event as a ‘heat wave’ were not met.
The westward displacement of the ridge, as well as the Atlantic anticyclone, generated a flow from the north, with cooler and more humid air, which generated a significant drop in temperatures, starting on the 15th. 30 and 31 was due to a synoptic situation very similar to that exposed for the 2 previous episodes.
The anticyclonic situations dominated the synoptic scenario over the islands during the month of July, being these the ones that originated the registered precipitations, generally weak although within normality.
