That's why you should always heed the warnings:

This massive lump of rock fell during storm 'Olivier' which brought very heavy rainfalls to La Gomera and all over the Canary Islands. The rock above fell onto the road between Las Hayas and El Cercado, completely blocking it. In total there were about 50 incidents, but thankfully no injuries, as most people did heed the warnings. Thanks to La Gomera's undaunted, dilligent and ever-vigilant road maintenance crews all roads were soon cleared again. (Image: gomeranoticias)

Heavy rain and thunderstorms in Canaries tomorrow

 While it is warm, sunny and very dry with high pressure over Ireland, the Canary Islands can expect storm 'Olivier' with wind, heavy rain and thunderstorms tomorrow Wednesday, April 9th 2025. Status orange warnings have been issued by the Spanish metereological service for heavy downpours, which could dump up to 30mm of rain in just one hour. Thunderstorm warnings have also been issued, with falls  of hail possible, and  in the western Canaries there are status yellow wind warnings of southwesterly gale gusts. 

The warnings are valid from tomorrow and begin at different times in each island, so please click the official AEMET.ES website for more detail (in English). All warnings expire later on Thursday, but further showers can be expected over the following days as low pressure close to the Canary Islands becomes almost stationary and is forecast to dissipate only slowly.

it it advisable to be cautious over the coming days and hiking and other outdoor activities in the mountains and ravines should not be undertaken . Travel should be avoided, but if you need to drive then be very careful. Rockfalls and landslides can be expected, which might happen as a result of loosening material due to temperature changes, erosion and especially during and after rain. Don't be deceived by longer sunny intervals as the sun can add to the erosive process when rocks and soil expand in the sun's heat after cracks and crevices have been filled with debris by precipitation.

All a bit unusual for this time of the year and not great news for those on holidays in the Canary Islands, but the rain is very badly needed and wanted by locals.

Abundant rain in La Gomera's north

While all of La Gomera got some decent precipitation over the past few days, the northern regions received a lot of rain yesterday. The weather station at the visitor's centre above Agulo reported just over 70 mm of rain yesterday and the station in Hemigua recorded almost 40 mm. The above video by gomeraverde.com shows one of the many waterfalls in Agulo yesterday.

The next few days should bring sunny spells but also further showers to La Gomera and some of these may again be heavy with a risk of isolated thunderstorms. Caution is advised when out and about, even when it is not raining, as rocks and soil may have become unstable due to the rain and will expand during sunny spells.

More rain showers expected

More welcome rain showers are expected today and a status 'yellow' weather warning has been issued for toady, Friday March 29th 2019, for rainfalls of up to 15mm in one hour. Isolated thunderstorms may also form. Caution on roads and hiking paths is advised.

For the coming days more showers are forecast, but again with good sunny periods at times.

Weather warnings for Christmas Eve 2018

The Spanish meteorological sevice has issued weather warnings for La Gomera and the rest of the Canary Islands for tomorrow, Christmas Eve 2018. Easterly winds are expected to gust to 80 km/h and will bring dust from the Sahara which could reduce visibility to just 3000 metres. Rough seas are to be expected. 

This weather, called Calima here in the Canary Islands, is expected to gradually improve from Christmas day. There won't be much heat with this Calima episode as we're in mid-winter when the Sahara is fairly cold.

Cruise ship visit hampered by gales

The AidaVita passing Valle Gran Rey this morning

The very windy weather has delayed the arrival in San Sebastian de La Gomera of Italian-registered cruise ship AidaVita. The ship had sailed from Gran Canaria as scheduled last night on a course directly to La Gomera's capital to arrive there at 8 am, but due to the combination of heavy seas and gale force winds was unable to berth in the harbour. AidaVita then sailed on along the northern coastline and is now completing a full circle around La Gomera, having just passed the south-western town of Valle Gran Rey and is rescheduled to arrive in San Sebastian at 12 noon, but current weather conditions aren't much better...
The highest wind speeds in the Canaries this morning were recorded at the weather station on La Gomera's highest peak Alto de Garajonay, with a sustained wind speed of 86 km/h at 8:30 am and a gust of 134 km/h at 8:10 am.
UPDATE:
AidaVita tried again to berth in San Sebastian de La Gomera just after 12 noon. The pilot came aboard, but the attempts to dock were given up before 1pm. The pilot was taken off again, and the cruise ship sailed away from La Gomera.

Wind and wave warnings

It is going to be very windy until about noon on Tuesday, 14th of March 2017. The Spanish meteorological service has issued several warnings of gale force northerly winds gusting to 90 km/h or more, especially on Monday (level 'orange warning). Further warnings have been issued of rough seas with combined swell and wind-driven waves to reach four to five  metres on exposed coastal stretches. Be very cautious on roads, secure that garden furniture, etc., and stay away from exposed areas !

Hope on the horizon for some rain

The 'Rainbow' enhancement of today's 12 noon satellite image

While the remainder of today should be mostly sunny with few cloudy intervals, there is some hope for badly-needed rain for tomorrow, particularly during the first half of the day. A minor Atlantic depression of 1004 hPa is approaching and will soon be to the north of the Canary Islands near Madeira while filling before finally dissipating. 

There is already a lot of convective precipitation and thunderstorm activity around the low centre, but once again most of that rain is likely to pass to the north of the Canaries. There is however a good chance that La Gomera and the western Canary Islands will get some good showers and/or spells of rain, potentially even heavy ones, from late tonight until Wednesday evening.

We've also got an upper level low sitting over the same area which should aid the convective precipitation and a forming trough.  Warnings of some heavy downpours in parts of La Palma and Tenerife have been issued.

There's also the risk of some scattered thunderstorms, but the good news is that this time the winds will only be light to moderate from a mostly southerly direction. 

The weather should dry up late on Wednesday with a return to mostly sunny conditions and moderate north-easterly winds forecast for the remainder of the week.

This winter season has been much too dry in La Gomera and let's hope that this small depression will deliver some precious water before the dry weather returns.

To be on the safe side, mountain areas and ravines should be avoided tomorrow, though.

Weather gradually improving

Rough seas at La Puntilla, Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, today.

La Gomera escaped the worst of the rain this morning as this passed just to the north of the Canary Islands. However, some very strong winds were recorded here and the weather station in the mountains at Alto Igualero recorded sustained wind speeds of well over 90 km/h with gusts of up to 144 km/h between 5am and 9am. The strong winds lead to some power outages, but no major damage was reported. However, torn branches and debris are still to be expected on roads, and as always during and for quite some time after wind and rain, rocks and soil may be dislodged and fall. Caution is advised !

The eagerly awaited abundant rainfalls failed to materialise and the accumulations during the short periods of pecipitation were pretty poor. 

Seas were, and still are, pretty rough but apparently did not disrupt ferry services. The warning for high waves will be lifted at 6 pm.

All other warnings have now ended and the weather is gradually improving with good sunny periods. There should be some more showers, possibly heavy and squally, during the remainder of Sunday, however.
A further few scattered showers could still arrive on Monday and Tuesday, mainly affecting the north of the island and the mountain areas.

Winds are forecast to become variable light to moderate on Monday and Tuesday and it should be mostly sunny generally.

Current indications are that another Atlantic depression may affect the Canaries on Wednesday with some hope of badly needed rain, but that could once again just pass us by without giving much, if any, precipitation. It is expected to dissipate anyway 😩.

Caution is advised and La Gomera's emergency plan remains activated today (Image: gomeratoday.com)

Bad weather imminent

A deceptively beautiful but disturbed looking sky at 4pm on Saturday 11-02-2017

This is just a quick update on the weather situation for La Gomera (see previous post):

Today, Saturday 11-02-2017 turned out better than expected but the forecast for tomorrow, Sunday 12-02-17, has worsened considerably and severe weather is imminent, bringing gale force winds, locally heavy downpours, isolated thunderstorms and rough seas. Appropriate weather warnings come into effect from midnight tonight and altogether 7 (seven !) weather alerts at levels from levels 'yellow' to 'orange' have been issued by the Spanish met. office for La Gomera. I won't bore you with all the details, mostly concerning time, and will just give you the synopsis:

From very early morning until late afternoon severe winds and heavy downpours can be expected, as well very rough seas. Synopsis of alerts for La Gomera :

• Westerly winds may well gust to 90 km/h in exposed areas 
• Combined swell and wind-blown waves may reach 15-18 ft on exposed coasts
• Heavy rain is expected with intensities of up to 20 mm/h with localised flooding
• The combination of rain and wind may cause landslides and rockfalls

Official warnings by Spanish met. office

The government of the Canary Islands has issued separate alerts and ...

• all public recreational areas, parks, campsites, etc., have been closed.
• it is advised to secure outdoor furniture, flower pots, etc, etc,...
• all outdoor events, sporting fixtures, outdoor markets, etc., have been cancelled.
• unnecessary travel and outdoor activity should be avoided
• extreme caution is advised generally

With a bit of luck it might not turn out to be as bad after all, but you have been warned...
Anyway, the weather should greatly improve from Sunday afternoon.

The current situation showing that the secondary low will reach 992hPa very rapidly while the main low maintains 994hPa

A windy and rainy weekend in store

Some forecasting models predict this scenario for 6am Sunday morning

SEE latest update (click this)

Wet and windy weekend weather is forecast to affect the Canaries from midnight tonight, even though the sun is shining and there are only a few clouds in Valle Gran Rey as I'm writing this.

A storm depression of 988 hPa is west off the Portuguese coast now and beginning to track south, bringing it closer to the Canary Islands. The depression is expected to be of 994 hPa tomorrow and north of these islands, before moving a bit further away to the north-northeast early on Sunday with an expected 992 hPa. Some models predict that the main depression may spawn-off a secondary but short-lived low very close and just to the north of us (see chart above), which would complicate the situation and may bring higher potential for precipitation.

What all this means is that La Gomera and the rest of the Canaries will be in for spells of rain during Saturday and on Sunday until afternoon. Some of the rain may be heavy in places and isolated thunderstorms can be expected as several frontal systems will pass through the islands. Further, strong westerly winds are expected with gale gusts and seas will be rough with a combination of 3-4 m swell and wind-blown waves.

The following status 'yellow' weather alerts have been issued for La Gomera:

Saturday, Feb. 11th 2017: 

From 00:00 am until 6 pm: Westerly winds gusting to 75 km/h or more in exposed areas.

Sunday, Feb. 12th 2017: 

From 00:00 am until 12 noon: Rain intensity up to 20mm/hour

From 3 am until 3 pm: Winds gusting to 80 km/h or more in exposed areas.
+++ A status 'orange' alert for Sunday from 4 am to 11 am: Gusts of 90+ km/h

The Canarian government has also issued weather alerts and La Gomera's government has called for extreme caution.

While the above weather forecast is not dramatic and not unusual for this time of the year, please bear in mind that the situation is still developing, possibly changing at any time, and that local phenomena and conditions can always spring a surprise.

Please do not put yourself at risk by hiking or walking in the mountains and postpone any such activity until at least a day after the weather has improved. Avoid unnecessary travel and if you must venture out, do so with extreme caution as there's bound to be debris on the roads, and falling stones and rocks are likely due to the wind and rain, especially after the long dry spell we've had. 
Late Sunday and Monday the worst will have passed but the weather will still be unsettled. Also note that warnings may be changed at short notice.
...and the just-issued OPC forecast chart for Sunday noon has confirmed a secondary low of 996hPa (below)

Very breezy

Winds will be strong to gale force today, Friday Dec.30th, in La Gomera and a warning has been issued by the meteorological service for gusts of 75 km/h or more. The weather station in the Agulo area which is located at the visitor's centre in Juego de Bolas has already recorded a gust of 94 km/h at 8:20 this morning and winds are strong and very gusty in Valle Gran Rey as I write. The winds will be mainly from a south-easterly direction and the warning is valid until tomorrow lunchtime. Winds should then begin to ease gradually over the rest of the weekend.

A breezy Christmas 2016

A wind warning has been issued by the meteorological service valid from early today, Saturday, December 24th 2016, until Monday 25th of Dec.:

Strong to gale force easterly winds will affect La Gomera (and most areas of the Canary Islands) with winds gusting to 80 km/h or more in exposed areas, especially in the mountains.

While there are only light breezes here in Valle Gran Rey at the moment, the weather station on La Gomera's second highest peak, the Alto de Igualero at about 4500 ft, has already recorded a gust of 71 km/h just after 8 am this morning.

Drive with caution and be careful generally as sudden gusts and resulting debris can be expected.

Weather returning to normal today

As you can see in the webcam picture of the harbour of San Sebastian de La Gomera taken at 9am the weather has calmed and is returning to the pleasant conditions that are one of the main attractions of the Canary Islands.

All weather warnings for La Gomera have now expired except a remaining one of rough seas which will end at 12 noon today.

The outlook for the next few days is for mostly sunny conditions with maximum temperature in the mid-20s ºC, moderate winds, and only some scattered showers - most of those in the north of the island.

La Gomera has escaped the recent storm relatively unscathed, but drive carefully as there may still be some debris on the roads. In the national park there is a lot of foliage and some branches on the roads and this will take some time to be cleared - see image below by gomertoday.com :

Severe weather warnings for this weekend (Updated)

Wave height and direction forecast for Sat. morning 06 am UTC

UPDATE SATURDAY, Nov. 29th 2014, @ 5 pm:
The storm is gradually abating, but warnings (see below) remain in place until midnight. 
The Canary Islands will be slowly but surely getting back to normal tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 30th '14.

UPDATE SATURDAY, Nov. 29th 2014, @ 11 am:
La Gomera today is cut off from the 'rest of the world' as the airport remains closed and all ferries have been cancelled until 4 pm when sailings may be resumed, pending an improvement in weather conditions. There were many minor incidents such as blown down signage, solar panels, trees, etc., but thankfully no injuries have been reported. There are very high seas, especially on northern and western coasts and some minor damage to coastal infrastructure. Earlier this morning the strongest wind gust in the Canaries was recorded high in the mountains of Tenerife at Izaña where the wind reached 175 km/h.
The good news is that the worst is now over and the red alert has ended. The level orange warnings of strong wind and waves will remain in place until tonight, though.
Tomorrow the weather should gradually return to the normal pleasant conditions and the outlook for the early days of next week is for mostly fine weather.

UPDATE FRIDAY, Nov. 28th 2014, @ 4 pm:
Gale to storm force winds with hurricane force gusts continue in the Canary Islands where several inter-island and international flights are rescheduled, cancelled or diverted. Some minor roads closed. Ferry cancellations and rescheduling. Some minor accidents. Minor rockfalls and landslides.

UPDATE FRIDAY, Nov. 28th 2014, @ 1 pm:
The town of Agulo has been without electric power since early this morning. All schools and colleges on La Gomera have been closed. La Gomera airport is closed until further notice. Revised ferry timetables apply, but for how long ports can remain open is anybody's guess. CAUTION, the worst is yet to come !

UPDATE FRIDAY, Nov. 28th 2014, @ 11am:
The maximum wind gust warning value has already been exceeded on La Gomera this morning at the Igualero mountain station with about 100 mp/h (158 km/h):

Racha (km/h)
Estación	Provincia	Hora	km/h	Datos hasta
Vallehermoso, Alto Igualero	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	08:40	158	09:00
	(La Gomera)

Sea, air and land traffic is expected to be at times severely disrupted and there have been flight cancellations already. The 2.500-passenger TUI cruise ship 'Mein Schiff 3' will not visit La Gomera today as planned, and the Armas ferry to El Hierro island will not sail.

Tree branches and other debris is causing delays on some roads. Even though the waves are still relatively benign the previously damaged coast road between Puntilla and La Playa in VGR has already suffered further damage. Peak wave heights of 5-6m are expected to occur between 2 and 6 am Nov 29th. and I doubt if this stretch of road will survive the night. CAUTION ! 
Avoid travel today and tomorrow, but if you're scheduled to do so check with your travel company before attempting any journey. 

UPDATE FRIDAY, Nov. 28th 2014, @ 9am:
The Spanish Met. Office has elevated the warning level for wind to the highest (red) level: W-NW wind gust of 130 km/h are to be expected from now for the next 24 hours.All other warnings remain unchanged.

Now read the original post:

A vigorous depression north of the Canary Islands near the Iberian peninsula is expected to track SE and deepen. This will bring gale to storm force winds and high seas to the Canarian archipelago from early morning Friday 28th of November 2014 until at least early Sunday morning. Associated cold fronts will also bring showers or some longer spells of rain for a while and the temperature will decrease. Isolated thunderstorm activity may occur. However, the latter and the rainfalls pose a lesser threat than the wind and waves, and the fronts should pass through fairly rapidly. Conditions should have improved considerably by noon Monday. 

Level orange warnings have been issued for westerly to north-westerly winds with gusts of up to 100 km/h. Even stronger gusts may be experienced in exposed areas and near mountains, where due to local turbulences 130 km/h wind gusts may occur.

Further, level orange warnings have been issued for Canarian waters and exposed coasts for waves of 5 to 6 metres in height. This is a wave height very rarely experienced in the Canary Islands and is potentially damaging to coastal defences and infrastructure. Rogue waves may be be even larger, and the combination of heavy swell, local tidal conditions and wind-blown waves is hard to predict.

BOTH ABOVE WARNINGS ARE VALID UNTIL LATE SATURDAY NIGHT, NOV. 29th, 2014
The Canarian Met. Assoc. have elevated their alert for wind and waves to the highest (red) level. Even Met Eireann forecasters here in Ireland have advised of this situation in several bulletins.
Please avoid mountain terrain and coastal areas and be extremely cautious generally.

OPC forecast chart for noon Friday, Nov.29th, 2014

Rain forecast for Friday noon. Note the heavy rain fcst. for Morocco, where dozens lost their lives in floods recently.

New weather warnings for Sunday

A mixture of sunshine and showers today in VGR. The Timah webcam shows rain in the upper valley at 11am

While the general situation is gradually improving, some showers will still affect La Gomera today. The worst of these will affect the Northern and the mountain regions where some may be heavy or prolonged and fog can be expected in the national park. Some sunny spells in the south of the island.

The showers will gradually become more scattered tomorrow, Sunday 23rd of November 2014, but new warnings of northerly winds gusting up to 75 km/h from around midnight tonight have been issued and remain until 6pm Sunday.

A modified warning of heavy seas combined of strong swell and wind blown waves has been extended from 9am Sunday until late Monday night. Seas may reach 15 feet on exposed coasts.

Weather update - rain warning cancelled

A landslide caused by the rains forced the closure of a minor road  near 'El Rejo' yesterday. The steep mountain pass is prone to rockfalls and landslides in this particular stretch of the scenic road. Image: gomeranoticias.com
Update Friday evening: This road has now been cleared of  debris and is open for all traffic again.
Update 2, Saturday evening: Some more rain during Saturday caused another, even larger landslide in the same spot. It has resulted in the road being closed once again until further notice. 

Weather:
No major change in the weather situation, but the weather should improve a lot early next week according to forecasts. This morning there were frequent showers on La Gomera with sunny interludes. This pattern should continue for most of the day and showers can be expected for the rest of the weekend. It will also become quite windy.

The good news is that the warning of heavy rain for tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 21st 2014, has been cancelled for La Gomera, while it remains in place for some other parts of the Canary Islands.

However there's a new warning for La Gomera of heavy seas with waves of 3-4 metres for Sunday. Below is the OPC chart for Monday showing high pressure beginning to become established once again near the Canary Islands, bringing more pleasant conditions:

Weather warnings extended

As you can see from the webcam picture taken by gomera.info at 10:40am it appears to be a pleasant enough morning in Valle Gran Rey and the worst of the weather now seems to be over the eastern Canary Islands. There hasn't been any more heavy rain on La Gomera but the warnings have been extended until Friday morning 8 am. Rainfall accumulations predicted for La Gomera could reach 20mm in one hour and 60mm in 12 hours. The warning of thunderstorms will end at midnight tonight. A new warning for 60mm of rain in 12 hours will come into effect late Friday night and will extend until midnight Saturday night.

There's a fairly strong sea swell running, so be careful near coasts.

The weather situation is constantly changing and new low pressure systems are expected to form just north of the Canaries, so new warnings may be issued and existing warnings may be cancelled. I'll keep you informed.

Bad weather for rest of week - Weather warnings

OPC chart for noon Wednesday 19-11-14

Unsettled weather is beginning to affect the Canary Islands from tonight for much of the remainder of the week according to all forecast models. Colder air from polar regions is streaming down and beginning to interact with the still very warm air and sea temperature around the Canaries. A series of low pressure systems are expected to form north of the archipelago and associated cold fronts will bring rain from west to east. The first of these will bring showers, some heavy and prolonged, affecting western islands from early tonight. Thunderstorms may also be expected.

Over the coming days the unsettled weather will continue with occasional thunderstorms, showers or longer spells of rain and some very windy periods. It will be colder than of late but still up to the low 20's ºC max. in the sunny periods that may also be experienced - but beware as these may not last very long.

The first weather warnings for La Gomera predict rainfall accumulations of 25mm in just one hour and 60mm in 12 hours. There is also a warning of thunderstorms. It is advisable to cancel all activities in mountain terrain and near riverbeds.

Update Thursday, Nov. 19th '14, @ 11:30 am:
A fair bit of rain fell during last night, but nothing extreme. It is overcast now, but dry and quite pleasant with some patches of blue in the sky. Further showers are expected, however, and the approaching next cold front could bring thunderstorms and heavy bursts of rain.
Update,  Nov. 19th '14, 9 pm:
There's another weather warning of rain accumulations of 20mm in one hour and 60mm in 12 hours and for thunderstorms for the period from 6am tomorrow morning until 11 pm tomorrow night.

The situation at 5pm Tuesday. Canary Islands are at far right

Weather warnings today

AEMET rain radar at 10:10 am showing heavy rain approaching La Gomera

There is an orange alert for occasionally heavy rain with accumulations of up to 90 mm in 12 hours for the western Canaries today. There are also warnings of thunderstorms today.
This is due to a developing storm between the Canaries and the Azores which will bring unsettled weather for a couple of days. The weather should have returned to normal conditions by mid-week.