April did not bring the expected rains to the Canary Islands, nor did the spring chill that is usually assumed. The Archipelago faced another “extremely warm” period last month, making April 2024 the warmest in the last 63 years in the Canary Islands. The average temperature was 2.7 degrees above normal for that time of year, but thermometers even surpassed 9 degrees of thermal anomaly during the episode of high temperatures which brought forward the summer in the Archipelago for almost ten days.
This is evident in The Climatological Advance of April 2024 in the Canary Islands, published by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which not only highlights that temperatures were unusually high during that period, but also emphasizes the progressive increase in tropical nights in the Islands and the unstoppable decrease in precipitation. Two expected impacts of a planet undergoing global warming as Earth is experiencing currently.
The temperature rise was driven by the arrival of an extremely warm air mass from the African continent to the Islands, accompanied by a thick haze that pushed clouds into the background and consequently increased insolation. The highest temperature increases were concentrated on two specific days: Thursday 11th and Friday 12th of April. The average temperature on these days was close to 9 degrees above the reference series (1991-2020).
On Thursday 11th, under intense heat, temperatures soared to values more common in summer. For instance, the weather station in Aldea de San Nicolás (Gran Canaria) recorded a maximum temperature of 38.5 degrees, the highest in the Archipelago for the whole month. Tenerife was not far behind, as the station located at the southern airport reached a maximum of 38.3 degrees. And in Morrojable, south of Fuerteventura, temperatures also reached a maximum of 38 degrees.
Over a Hundred Records Broken
[–>
According to Aemet’s data, during those days, 131 records for maximum temperature were broken in stations across the Archipelago. Many of these indicators had already been exceeded in 2023. Specifically, 33 new maximum average temperatures were recorded – 9 in Tenerife, 12 in Gran Canaria, 3 in Lanzarote, 3 in El Hierro, 3 in La Gomera, one in La Palma and one in Fuerteventura; 22 new absolute maximum temperatures – 6 in Gran Canaria, 3 in Tenerife, 2 in Fuerteventura, 4 in La Gomera, 4 in La Palma and 3 in El Hierro; and 32 records of higher minimum temperatures.
If the heat had any impact on the Islands, it was precisely on nighttime temperatures that did not give the population respite during the hottest days. According to Aemet, 253 records of tropical nights were counted on different days and at various stations across the Canary Islands. Thermometers recorded particularly high values during the 11th and 12th days, coinciding with the hottest days. However, in many points of the Archipelago, the high temperatures did not give any respite during the night over five days.
At this point, Aemet has decided to compare the tropical nights that the Canary Islands have experienced in April since 2015. In the last decade, the Archipelago had never experienced a similar situation. Until now, 2017 and 2023 had become the years with the highest number of records of high nighttime temperatures, with 133 and 113 records of tropical nights, respectively.
April Showers Bring May Flowers?
[–>
April was also not a rainy month, contrary to the popular saying. April was very dry, ranking as the twelfth driest since records began in the Canary Islands. Only 27% of the expected rainfall accumulated in three episodes. The first occurred on the 6th, with light and scattered precipitation due to the accumulation of clouds by the trade winds on the north slope of the mountainous islands. From the 20th to the 22nd, a trough approached the Canary Islands, with a storm and surface front that left weak to very weak rainfall. Finally, between the 27th and the 28th, the passage of a not very active front left light to moderate precipitation, especially in the north of Tenerife.
The highest rainfall records were set in this last episode, which reached 24.2 liters per square meter in 24 hours in areas like Benijo. During this time, intense rainfall also occurred in some parts of Tenerife.
This situation does not help alleviate the hydrological drought that the Canary Islands are facing. Since the beginning of the hydrological year (in October 2023), less than half of the expected rainfall has been recorded in the Archipelago (49%). In Las Palmas province, the total precipitation is 78.1 liters per square meter, while in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, there has been up to 177.9 liters per square meter.
