The unusual high temperature episode that has affected Canary Islands in recent weeks has broken around half a hundred maximum temperature records and up to 41 for the highest minimums in the historical series.
The influx of warm air in mid-April has caused thermometers to rise 8 to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, reaching highs of up to 38 degrees in some areas of the archipelago.
Specifically, according to information from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), maximum temperatures have almost reached 40 degrees in some areas and have generally stayed above 30 degrees during this extraordinary episode.
In particular, the station located at the South Tenerife airport recorded the highest temperature throughout the episode. This southern part of the island recorded 38.3 degrees on the hottest day of the episode, April 11. On that day when the calima, heat, and warm air invaded the entire archipelago, most of the records were broken. Specifically, that Thursday accumulated 35 maximum temperature records (71% of the total) and 26 minimum temperature records (63%).
In addition to the southern airport, other temperatures well above normal were recorded in the municipality of Adeje in Tenerife (37.9 degrees), Tuineje in Fuerteventura (37.1 degrees) and San Bartolomé de Tirajana (37.3 degrees).
Tropical Nights in Spring
In addition to the daytime heat, this episode has been characterized by high nighttime temperatures, which in many cases have caused some points in the Canary Islands to experience tropical and torrid nights – above 20 and 25 degrees, respectively.
Specifically, in Gran Canaria, the thermometers have not dropped below 26.3 degrees in Tasarte and nor in San Bartolomé de Tirajana despite the sunset. The same happened in the Tenerife municipality of Granadilla de Abona, which had a torrid night at 26.4 degrees on April 11.
This episode has been accompanied by a thick layer of Saharan dust in suspension that remains present today. The massive influx of calima has been one of the most intense recorded in the Canaries for the month of April. According to aerosol optical thickness records made at the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center – a dependency of Aemet – this month has reached a maximum value unprecedented since records began. That is, since 2003.
Despite enduring the worst of this heatwave episode, the Canary Islands continue to be immersed in unusually hot temperatures for the season. Specifically, yesterday saw maximum temperatures of 32.5 degrees in El Paso (La Palma), 31.2 degrees in Tejeda (Gran Canaria) and Arure (La Gomera), and 30.7 degrees in Agulo (La Gomera) and at the Lanzarote airport.
Although temperatures are expected to remain above 30 degrees for a couple of days, Aemet expects them to gradually decrease and do so “continuously.” “Temperatures are expected to return to typical levels for this time of year starting Friday,” reveals Suárez, indicating that weak rainfall could occur in some areas of the archipelago on that same day.
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