For the third consecutive day, a layer of fog, a result of the meteorological mishmash, descended yesterday in the early morning hours over Los Rodeos, in La Laguna, causing a new chaos in the air activity of Tenerife North airport.
The low visibility, combined with light drizzles, caused a backlog in the arrivals of flights from other locations throughout the morning. The adverse weather forced several planes to circle the airspace in the north of the island for at least an hour, resulting in the cancellation of up to 31 flights (13 interisland arrivals and 18 departures) and the diversion of two others, one from Seville to Tenerife South airport and another departing from Gran Canaria and having to return to its original location.
It all began on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. when the fog began to blind the Laguna airport. A total of 16 flights had to be redirected to the other airport on the island, Tenerife South, 14 of them after the indicated time, according to official sources from Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA). The weather improved on Thursday morning, but dense fog returned from 7:00 p.m. onwards. From then on and until 10:45 p.m. –three hours and 45 minutes– the airport remained inoperative. The chaotic day ended with a total of 33 affected flights: 11 cancellations (four to Gran Canaria, two to El Hierro and Madrid, and one to Lanzarote, La Gomera and La Palma), as well as 17 diversions, most to Tenerife South: three flights from Madrid, La Palma and Gran Canaria and one from Santiago, Malaga, Barcelona, Bilbao, Vigo, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and El Hierro. There were also five delays of over two hours.
The lack of visibility in this location – situated 600 meters above sea level – has been caused by the abrupt weather change that the Archipelago has experienced, and which, however, has affected the different sides of the Islands differently. While in the south and east a layer of Saharan air loaded with calima has raised temperatures above 30 degrees – and even close to 40 in some areas –; in the north, the strong trade wind flow has left important cloudiness, dense fog and even light precipitation.
This is due, in turn, to the “pressure” exerted by the Saharan layer on the fresh and humid trade wind air. The clash of air masses occurs at over 600 meters, which is the height of Los Rodeos, so it is common for this to happen. In fact, the airport has the most advanced technology to allow pilots to land and take off despite adverse conditions.
Five Municipalities at Risk
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The heat will gradually subside, also improving visibility at the Northern airport. However, it will not completely disappear and threatens to continue dominating the weekend. In fact, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) maintains yellow warnings for high temperatures in the south of Tenerife and the interior and south of Gran Canaria until at least Sunday. Meanwhile, the Health Department has extended health risk warnings due to high temperatures. In total, there will be five municipalities remaining at risk due to the heat.
In Gran Canaria, the Health Department has activated the red warning (the highest) until July 16th in Santa Lucia de Tirajana and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and until July 15th in Tejeda. In Tenerife, the orange warning is in effect from the 13th to the 15th of July in Vilaflor.
[–>[–>Vulnerability to high temperatures includes personal risk factors such as being over 65 years old, infants, pregnant women, etc.; environmental, local (homeless people, athletes, especially hikers) and occupational among others. Recommendations for vulnerable populations specifically include staying in cool, shaded or air-conditioned places as much as possible, refreshing as needed, reducing physical activity and avoiding outdoor sports during the hottest hours of the day; and drinking water or fluids frequently, even when not thirsty and regardless of physical activity being performed.
In this sense, Health also recommends avoiding drinks with caffeine, alcohol or those very sugary, as they can contribute to dehydration. Finally, special attention is urged to be paid to babies, children, pregnant or lactating women, as well as older people or those with conditions that may worsen with heat (such as heart diseases, kidney diseases, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, conditions that hinder mobility, dementia and other mental illnesses, as well as drug or alcohol abuse).
