The passage of a cold and stormy spring storm through the Canary Islands has resulted in over 200 incidents across the archipelago since Thursday. During the weekend, the most common problems have been rockfalls and stones falling onto roads, in some cases leading to road closures. However, the intensity of this storm in various parts of the islands has also caused flooding in homes and businesses, overflowing sewers, power outages in some municipalities, and entire streets submerged under water.
Although the storm was slightly less aggressive on Sunday, the emergency services have continued to receive reports of new incidents across the islands. Rockfalls were reported in Santa Úrsula (Tenerife) and Firgas (Gran Canaria) on Sunday morning.
The last impacts of the DANA (isolated high-level depression) yesterday were particularly intense on La Palma, where the storm caught a population off guard with unexpectedly heavy rainfall.
Several municipalities in La Palma reported the highest accumulations of precipitation on Sunday. Specifically, Tijarafe recorded 29.2 litres per square metre, with 20.4 litres falling in just one hour at 6:00 in the morning. Puntagorda recorded 26.2 litres per square metre, and Roque de los Muchachos 21.8 litres per square metre.
The intense rainfall in municipalities like Tijarafe and Tazacorte caused various rockfalls, while in Los Llanos de Aridane and El Paso, water had to be pumped out of homes and businesses.
As is customary during such intense – yet unpredictable – storms, the power grid was affected, resulting in power outages in different areas. Los Silos, Los Realejos, and San Juan de La Rambla in Tenerife, as well as Barlovento in La Palma, were among the areas affected by power cuts on Saturday.
Snow Returns
On Sunday, there was another light snowfall on the peaks of Tenerife and La Palma. Ice on the roads led to the intermittent closure of roads leading to Teide National Park via La Esperanza, La Orotava, and Roque de Los Muchachos. The roads to Teide were reopened once the road cleaning was completed.
Roads affected by rockfalls included GC-200 in La Aldea, TF-445 in Teno, and LP-214 due to increased water flow in the ravine.
Although less frequent, there were also heavy showers in the south of Tenerife on Sunday. In some stations, such as Tenerife Sur airport, 12.9 litres per square metre were recorded in just one hour around four in the afternoon.
With this data, the Canary Islands have become the rainiest region in Spain for the second consecutive day, although this position is about to change. The DANA that has been affecting the Canary Islands began moving towards the Peninsular Spain yesterday. The effects of the storm that accompanied the Canary Islands over the weekend began to be felt in the southern third of the peninsula in the form of showers and thunderstorms at the end of yesterday.
Next week, the weather in the Canary Islands will remain humid, although the expected rainfall will be less intense. Throughout Easter Week, it is anticipated that the skies will be overcast, with some cloudy intervals possibly bringing light rain to certain parts of the archipelago.
