Climate

Sunrise seen from San Sebastian de La Gomera

La Gomera's Climate

As the late Tim Hart says in his excellent guide book: ''For a small island La Gomera has a lot of climate''. 

There are distinctly different climate zones on the island:

The driest and sunniest areas are to be found in the coastal areas of the south from the capital San Sebastian in the east to Valle Gran Rey in the southwest. 

The northern coastal areas from Hermigua to Vallehermoso receive more rain and are more verdant, being a bit cooler, too.

The mountain areas and especially the forest in the national park are generally a lot cooler, more windy and receive a lot more precipitation than the rest of the island. Up there it can often be misty and foggy, especially in the evenings when the NE Trade Winds push the mist rising from the warm Atlantic against the steep mountains.

On the same day at the same time you could be roasting in the sun on a black sand beach in almost calm conditions in the south with a temperature of 27ºC or walk through the forest in a temperature of only half that or even less in a stiff breeze with drizzle at 3000ft altitude.

La Gomera's climate is often called 'eternal spring' and weather extremes are fairly rare. Even though the Sahara desert is not too far away, the Canaries are kept much cooler even in summer by the Canary current which flows roughly from north to south through the Canary Islands, keeping the islands temperate. However one unwanted effect the Sahara can bring is the dreaded 'Calima' (click for more) which is worse in the eastern Canaries, but can also haunt La Gomera for a couple of days every now and then, temporarily bringing dust and dry very hot air especially to higher ground. The Atlantic Canary current is coolest in the eastern islands, getting warmer the further west you go, so La Gomera benefits from warmer seas and more precipitation.

However, it rarely rains from spring until autumn and the winter rains are usually short-lived, but can sometimes bring heavy downpours and be accompanied by thunderstorms. Even when it rains it usually clears up a few hours later and the sun breaks through again. La Gomera has an abundant supply of drinking water of very good quality which comes from springs that are mainly being fed from the evergreen forest in the  mountains where the frequent mists condensate on the vegetation and the water then trickles down through the soil and rock.
Generally speaking La Gomera's climate is ideal, particularly around the coast where the temperature rarely strays more than 5ºC from 22ºC day or night, allowing sunbathing and swimming in the sea all year round. The Trade Winds supply a refreshing cooling breeze most of the time so it seldom gets unbearably hot, even in summer.

Below are some statistics, but bear in mind that they are averages for all of the island:

Annual weather averages for La Gomera: 

August is the hottest month in La gomera with an average temperature of 24°C (75°F) and the coldest is January at 18°C (64°F) with the most daily sunshine hours at 12 in August. The wettest month is November with an average of 165mm of rain. The best month to swim in the sea is in September when the average sea temperature is 24°C (75°F).

Average Temperature: La Gomera

 Centigrade: 18

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
°C	18	18	19	19	20	21	23	24	24	23	21	19
°F	64	64	66	66	68	70	73	75	75	73	70	66

Average High/Low Temperature: La Gomera

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High °C	21	21	22	22	23	24	26	27	27	26	24	22
High °F	70	70	72	72	73	75	79	81	81	79	75	72
Low °C	14	14	15	16	16	18	19	21	21	19	18	16
Low °F	57	57	59	61	61	64	66	70	70	66	64	61

Average Rainfall: La Gomera

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
mm	160	148	140	159	132	99	90	105	115	145	165	139
Days	17	13	16	12	12	10	10	12	11	14	13	13

Average Daily Sunshine Hours: La Gomera

 Hours: 10

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Hours	9	9	10	11	11	12	12	12	11	10	9	8

Average Sea Temperature: La Gomera

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
°C	20	20	20	20	21	22	23	23	24	24	23	22
°F	68	68	68	68	70	72	73	73	75	75	73	72

Source of the statistics: holiday-weather.com

Sunset seen from the bus station in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera