Severe weather warnings in Canaries from 10-12-13

NOTE: I will post updates at the end of this post if and when necessary

                                                The Canary Islands will be adversely affected by a low 

pressure system to the west from today until Friday, Dec. 13th 2013. The very active front associated with this system will move slowly across the archipelago from west to east and will be further slowed down by a very moist and warm mass of air, further complicating matters.

The forcing gradient has already produced strong winds on La Gomera yesterday with reports of gusts over 80km/h in several places and a maximum gust of 107km/h.this wind will probably further increase today and warnings for severe gusts have been issued.
Wind warning: Winds of 100 km/h from today until Wednesday 12 noon. Stronger gusts in exposed areas.

For about 24 hours  from late today, Tuesday Dec.10th 2013, heavy rain is expected to begin to affect us gradually from west to east and the warning of thunderstorms signals a further increase of the potential for cloudbursts. Warnings have been issued for rain amounts of 50mm per hour and accumulations of 120 mm in 12 hours. There is a high risk of localised flooding. 

The Canarian Meteorological Association have raised their alert to the highest level as have the Canarian government and the civil protection agency with an 'ALERTA MAXIMA'.

It is advisable to stay in a safe place until the situation improves and not to undertake walks and unnecessary car journeys. All modes of travel may be adversely affected.

Avoid cliffs and mountains. Be extremely cautious near river beds and be aware that the wind may tear down signs, sheeting, etc.. Official warnings and alerts apply.

Update 3:30pm:
All schools and colleges on La Gomera have been closed and will remain closed tomorrow. Some ferries are still running with delays, but Armas ferries have suspended their sailings. Most other public transport is still running with delays. Winds are still gradually increasing and first raindrops have fallen. Expected rainfall amounts have been revised upwards. La Gomera's emergency plans have been activated as have those of neighbouring islands. The front is slowly approaching and tonight and tomorrow morning the worst of it be over La Gomera. 
EXTREME CAUTION ! STAY SAFE, STAY AT HOME !

Update 5pm:
Last ferry will attempt sailing from La Gomera in half an hour. After that all ferry services to and from La Gomera will be suspended until further notice.

First thunderstorms forming just W of us at 4pm

Update 8pm:
There was a spell of less strong winds and both the Olsen and the Armas ferries decided to sail from Los Cristianos after all and they should arrive about now. 
In the past minutes winds have increased a lot again and a further reactivation of the front is expected later. So far the weather has behaved as predicted. 

Update 10pm:
The first Fred. Olsen ferry sailing which was to leave La Gomera at 7:30am has been cancelled.

Wednesday 11-12-13:

Update 1am:
Thunder and lightning nearby to W. and slowly approaching. Strong winds. It is beginning to rain. Rain radar:

Update 6am:
I was woken by thunder and lightning again. There was a lot of that plus wind all night and a little rain. All schools and colleges on Tenerife, Gran Canaria, El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera will be closed today. Large areas of La Palma were without power last night.
The front is beginning to reactivate itself  right now and new thunderstorms are forming.
Winds have eased a little, but that they did several times before re-strengthening. It is beginning to rain again. We'll see what happens…   Echotop radar at 5:50 am :

Update 8:30 am:
The situation has improved and the worst seems to have passed without affecting La Gomera much. We just had a heavy shower but it only lasted five minutes. Winds have eased considerably but are expected to rise again later.
Ferry sailings are going back to normal. The Armas ferry sailed this morning and the Olsen ferry will resume scheduled sailings at 9am with the scheduled depature from Los Cristianos.

Update 10 am:
It has been raining fairly heavily and persistently here and the cold front is yet to come. This situation just keeps developing. At the moment the worst weather seems to be over Tenerife. On La Palma several houses were flooded and the Tijarafe weather station measured 96mm of rain in a relatively short time. La Gomera's capital San Sebastian had 27mm of rain during a thunderstorm. So far all warnings and alerts are maintained. There are reports of extremely heavy rain in parts of Tenerife this morning

Chart for today 11-12-13

Recent T-storms, radar image of 10am

Update 11 am:
Lightning amount recorded by the span. met service between 2am and 8am: 1564
Just a few minutes ago we had an extremely heavy downpour:

Update 1:30 pm:

The weather here in Valle Gran Rey has improved now and there is a bit of sunshine every now and again. Recent showers were much lighter and shorter.

However, there still are heavy showers out there and to the south-west some re-activation of cells of thunderstorms and heavy rain is taking place, while the cold front is coming in from the west. 

Caution: Warnings and alerts still apply and some have even been extended

The 'barranco' of Valle Gran Rey is running with plenty of water today

Update 5:30 pm:

Some good news at last: The wind warnings will be cancelled from 6 pm this evening. It has been almost calm here with a bit of sunshine for the past while, but skies are darkening again now. Ferries are back sailing to schedule.

Warnings of heavy showers and thunderstorms will remain active until late tomorow night, Thursday 12-12-13 (see top of sidebar Weather News for latest La Gomera warnings). The band of heavy showers and thunderstorms  is almost stationary, even expanding and moving back to west a bit. It is still re-activating itself while new pockets of heavy weather continue forming to the south-west. The warnings are at the highest level for Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The 'alerta maxima' issued by the Canary Islands' government, however will be cancelled from midnight tonight with a statement that very heavy downpours are still probable. Most schools will reopen tomorrow, except on Tenerife.

On Friday things should improve considerably according to all forecasts, and the Canary Islands should get back to their usual predominantly sunny, dry and warm weather.

It must be stressed, however, that all day tomorrow Thursday 21-12-12 the weather will remain very disturbed and unsettled and locally very heavy downpours and thunderstorms are possible. Sunny spells may be misleading. 

Tree blown down damaging 2 cars beside  'El Coco Loco' restaurant in Valle Gran Rey yesterday. © Diario de Avisos

THURSDAY, Dec. 12, 2013:

The cold front is now finally over the Canary Islands and the disturbance has re-activated to the south. Thunderstorms and heavy showers can still be expected today. Tomorrow we should have much better weather.

Last night an inter-islands flight arriving from Gran Canaria by airline Binter skidded off the runway at Tenerife North airport due to heavy rain. All 51 passengers and 4 crew were unhurt but had to leave the plane via the emergency exits. The airport was closed for a while and traffic was diverted to Tenerife South airport, which itself received 96mm of rain that day.
Caution on the roads: There are many minor rockfalls still happening, as is usual after heavy rain and/or strong winds

Funktop enhanced sat-pic of 6am this morning

FINAL update 10 pm:
Even though we just had another shower, the weather situation is improving rapidly. By tomorrow lunchtime we should be back to mostly sunny weather according to (almost) all forecasters. High pressure is moving back in. All warnings and alerts are cancelled from midnight tonight. Enjoy !
END OF THIS POST