Canarias did not see the expected rains in April, nor did it experience the spring coolness that is usually presumed. The Archipelago faced another “extremely warm” period last month that made April 2024 the warmest in 63 years in the Canary Islands. The average temperature was 2.7 degrees above normal for the time of year, with temperatures even exceeding 9 degrees of thermal anomaly during the high-temperature episode that brought forward summer in the Archipelago for almost ten days.
This is highlighted in the Climatological Summary of April 2024 in the Canary Islands, published by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which not only emphasizes that temperatures were unusually high during that period, but also highlights the progressive increase in tropical nights on the Islands and the relentless decrease in precipitation. Two expected impacts of a planet experiencing global warming, such as Earth is currently undergoing.
The rise in temperatures was driven by the arrival in the Islands of a very warm air mass from the African continent, accompanied by a thick layer of calima that pushed clouds into the background and consequently increased insolation. The largest temperature increases were concentrated on two specific days: Thursday 11th and Friday 12th of April. The average temperature on those days was close to 9 degrees above the reference series (1991-2020).
On Thursday 11th, under intense heat, the temperatures soared to levels more typical of summer. Thus, the station in Aldea de San Nicolás (Gran Canaria) recorded a maximum temperature of 38.5 degrees, the highest in the entire month in the Archipelago. Tenerife also followed suit, with the station at the southern airport reaching a maximum of 38.3 degrees. And in Morro Jable, south of Fuerteventura, temperatures also reached a maximum of 38 degrees.
Over a hundred records broken
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According to Aemet data, during those days 131 records of maximum temperatures were broken at stations throughout 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 minimums.
One significant impact of the heat on the Islands was precisely on the nighttime temperatures, which did not give the population any respite during the hottest days. According to Aemet, 253 tropical nights were recorded on various days and stations throughout the Canaries. Thermometers showed particularly high values on days 11 and 12, coinciding with the hottest days. However, in many parts of the Archipelago, high temperatures did not let up at night for five days.
At this point, Aemet has decided to compare the tropical nights that the Canaries have experienced in April since 2015. In the last decade, the Archipelago had never experienced a similar situation. Up to now, 2017 and 2023 had become the years with the most records of high nighttime temperatures, with 133 and 113 tropical nights recorded, respectively.
April without April showers
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April was also not a rainy month, which goes against the popular saying. April was very dry, ranking as the twelfth driest since records began in the Canaries. There was only 27% of the expected rainfall accumulated in three episodes. The first occurred on the 6th, with weak and scattered precipitation due to the cloud accumulation by the trade wind on the north slope of the more mountainous islands. From the 20th to the 22nd, a trough approached the Canaries, with a storm and frontal system at the surface that brought weak to very weak precipitation. Finally, between the 27th and 28th, the passage of a low-activity front brought weak to moderate precipitation, especially in northern Tenerife.
The highest precipitation records were set in this last episode, which registered 24.2 liters per square meter in 24 hours in areas like Benijo. Also, intense precipitation occurred at some points in Tenerife during that time.
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This situation does not help alleviate the hydrological drought affecting the Canaries. Since the start of the hydrological year (in October 2023), the Archipelago has received less than half of the expected rainfall (49%). In Las Palmas province, the total precipitation is 78.1 liters per square meter, while in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it has reached 177.9 liters per square meter.
