Rough seas this weekend

Warnings have been issued of a strong swell and high waves to affect the Canary Islands. For La Gomera a level yellow warning of waves of 4-5 metres begins on Saturday, Nov. 17th 2018, at 6pm and extends until early Monday morning. An additional level orange warning of waves of 5-6 metres is valid from 9pm Saturday until Sunday afternoon 3pm. The swell is coming from a north-westerly direction and it is advisable to stay away from exposed coasts. Please be aware that the rough seas may disrupt ferry schedules and cruise ship itineraries.

Gloomy sky

The sky just before 8 am this morning. There was a lot of  lightning and some thunder in the early hours. See previous post.

...and this image was taken about 15 minutes later

Severe weather alerts Nov. 25th and 26th 2017

Latest water vapour satellite image.

A vigorous Atlantic depression of about 1000hPa has formed WNW of the Canary Islands and is slowly moving closer, while a large anticyclone is almost stationary over North Africa. The resulting southerly airstream is drawing subtropical and very humid air from near the Cape Verde Islands. Current models and predictions are for heavy showers and at times persistent precipitation to affect the western Canary Islands, including La Gomera, and for gale force southerly winds. Thunderstorms can also be expected as the very active cold fronts associated with the low pressure system clash with the warm subtropical air. The Spanish meteorological service has issued 'yellow' wind and rain warnings for La Gomera and even status 'orange' warnings for the islands of La Palma and El Hierro, all warnings valid from midnight tonight until Sunday night. (see 'Weather' on top sidebar, which I will try to keep updated regularly). An 'orange' rainfall warning for La Gomera has been added for the first half of Sunday, with amounts of up to 30 mm in one hour and 100 mm over the 12 hour period of this additional warning. A 'yellow' warning of thunderstorms for Saturday and Sunday over La Gomera was also just issued. For Tenerife 'yellow' warnings for wind have will be activated for Sat. and Sun. and a 'yellow' rainfall warning just for Sunday.

The whole situation is a bit difficult to predict as the high pressure over North Africa may

ultimately decide who gets what, if anything, in the Canaries. 

Alerta Maxima (click)

But you have been warned...
Rockfalls and landslides can be expected, especially with rain combined with strong winds after the prolonged drought. Roads may also be slippery when the dust dissolves during the first rainfalls. Be extremely cautious and avoid unnecessary journeys, walks, etc....
Update: The government of the Canary Islands has increased the alert level to the highest (Alerta Maxima) for rainfalls on the islands of El Hierro, La Palma, and La Gomera from midnight tonight until further notice. Emergency crews will be on standby and other measures, like the closure of the path from
Valle Gran Rey under the cliff to Argaga, have been taken.
+ UPDATE: Alert cancelation see 'Weather' on sidebar

Weather set to improve gradually

Image taken in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, yesterday 'between the showers'

There were frequent heavy showers yesterday and more of the same is expected today, but as was the case yesterday there will be sunny periods as well.The strong winds should ease later, but the sea will remain rough with waves of 4-5m height on exposed coasts. Showers will become more isolated, but will continue until Sunday morning with the mountains and the north of La Gomera most at risk. Wind and rain warnings should be lifted later today, but the warning of rough seas will remain in force until late Saturday.
There were some minor rock- and landslides affecting roads but thankfully no major incidents. The park around the Torre del Conde in San Sebastian de La Gomera where a palm tree was felled by gale gusts remains closed to the public, however.

The weather station at Alto de Igualero, La Gomera's second highest mountain, situated at about 1470m above sea level recorded over 40mm of rain in the past 30 hours and a wind gust of 94 km/h. It has become much colder with a flow of polar air streaming across the Canary Islands and the station up there recorded a minimum temperature of only 1,2 ºC last night which indicates that there was some ground frost in the mountains, a rare occurrence on La Gomera. Even down in Valle Gran Rey the temperature dropped to just below 12ºC last night and here the maximum values will struggle to reach 22ºC during the sunny spells expected, but it will feel fresher due to the northerly winds.

Some rain at long last

The first shower after a prolonged dry spell in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera at 9 am this morning

The very long drought this winter is finally ending as a cold front from the Atlantic is beginning to affect the weather in the Canary Islands. As I write the first of the rain is coming down in Valle Gran Rey here on La Gomera island.

There is a warning of some heavy showers and even longer spells of rain, especially in the North but all areas are at risk. Accumulations may exceed 60mm in twelve hours and 15 mm in just one hour and weather alerts have been issued.

The cold front is bringing polar air which will make it feel noticeably cooler, especially in areas exposed to the strong to gale force northerly winds expected later and there is a gale warning. The mountains in the western Canaries even will get sleet or snow at above 1300 meters.

The weather situation will remain unstable at least until Saturday.

Anyway, mountain hikes are not recommended until the weather has improved, and don't be fooled by brief sunny periods. Don't undertake any unnecessary car journeys as there may be rock/landslides especially after the long dry period. Find yourself a cosy cafe or bar, or go swimming in the rain, the sea's still warm.

Finally some rain yesterday

Yesterday up to lunchtime it was mostly sunny, but then within a short time it began to rain moderately and the rain continued for more than two hours. The image below shows people still enjoying the beach when the rain started to come down the valley.

This morning in Valle Gran Rey the skies are blue and the sun is shining, but a warning for heavy showers is still in place. 

Yesterday's rain was moderate here, but other areas had heavy rain and the mountain village of Chipude on La Gomera recorded 30,4 mm. Some areas of Gran Canaria got even more again with Cuevas del Pinar accumulating 55mm yesterday. 

The outlook is for the weather to improve, with just the occasional scattered shower expected next week - see top of sidebar for up-to-date details

Waiting for the rain

Below a slideshow of images taken last night at around sunset (music by Can). We've only had a couple of very light showers in Valle Gran Rey so far, but elsewhere a lot more rain fell and present indications are that there's more to come. For all of the Canary Islands the 'orange' weather alert remains in place for today. A 'yellow' weather alert applies for tomorrow, Saturday. 

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.

White Teide

Tenerife's Teide peak seen from La Gomera yesterday

Mount Teide on Tenerife is Spain's highest mountain at more than 12.000 ft, but given the benign Canarian climate with many visitors getting sunburnt below the peak on the beaches of Tenerife, the past weekend was exceptionally cold and left a rare white mark even on the lower slopes of the volcanic cone of our neighbouring island. They even have got  snow-ploughs to deal with the white stuff over there. On your upcoming trip to the Canaries don't forget to pack your skis along with your trunks and bikinis.

Singing in the rain - better weather today

Today the weather has improved a lot and it feels a lot warmer. The wind has decreased, but there still is the occasional light shower around. Tomorrow further improvement is expected. 

Below I'm posting a few impressions of yesterdays weather which failed to stop the music during the Valle Luna Festival, but a few people got wet nonetheless...

Sheltering during a shower

Another shower

Singing in the rain

One of the many rainbows

A cool and windy Sunday

Taken at 10am this morning

While here in Valle Gran Rey the wind seems to have died down considerably since yesterday, on the other side of the island a gust of 88 km/h was recorded in the capital San Sebastian this morning and the weather warnings for strong winds and heavy seas remain in place. The temperature has recovered a bit and today shouldn't feel quite as cold as yesterday, but it will still be below the average for this time of the year. Right now it has reached 16ºC and will rise more later in the day. There are some showers expected today, but not as frequent and as heavy as yesterday, when I took the picture below during one of the blustery downpours in the afternoon. The photo appears to be fuzzy but that is the rain and you can just make out the wild state of the sea on the top of the image:

La Gomera received a lot of rain yesterday. The official weather station in Agulo  in the island's north registered 82.2mm of rain, while the mountain village of Chipude which thrones over the south had 77.4mm and the second highest peak in the centre had 81.4mm. The latter station also registered the highest wind gust (90km/h) and the lowest temperature at 0.1ºC - you can call that freezing. Add to that total a power outage in the whole island lasting for about two hours, rockfalls, roads closed to traffic, heavy seas and you'll know that yesterday was an unusually unpleasant day for La Gomera and most parts of the Canaries.

There still is a lot of debris like fallen rocks and blown-off branches on the roads. Crews are out clearing this, but please drive carefully. Hiking in the mountains is not advisable today and tomorrow.

From Monday the weather is expected to improve a lot with much more sunshine, higher temperatures, less wind and a few scattered showers.

Here's a few impressions of yesterday's rare conditions:

Image of a traditional roof with hail and sleet accumulation, taken
yesterday afternoon near the mountain village of Igualero  ©gomeraverde.es

...and this impressive video of a stretch of road at about 1200m altitude (source Gomera Today):
                      

Cold front updated: Ice and snow on La Gomera

One of the many storms which have been battering northern Europe and especially Ireland and Britain has dragged down polar air in a cold front as far as the Canary Islands. There is a noticeable drop in the temperature here and heavy showers have been falling all night. More showers are expected today and on Mount Teide on Tenerife snowfalls have been reported even in the lower regions. A small depression over the western Sahara is squeezing the isobars of the high pressure in the central Atlantic, causing northerly gales over the Canaries which make it feel even colder. Warnings have been issued of winds of up to 90 km/h, heavy showers and high waves. Today is probably the worst day of this weather situation and early next week we should be getting back to the usual more settled and warmer weather. 

Taken at 8am this morning

Update at 12 noon:

It is an exceptionally cold and blustery day with very heavy showers here. There is a thunderstorm nearby it is beginning to rain again and it is only 15ºC. The worst winds are expected from later today until tomorrow morning. The sea is very rough already. 

There is ice and wet snow on some roads in the mountains above 1000m altitude and some stretches of road have been closed to traffic. Worst affected seem to be the areas around Igualero, Chipude and Las Hayas. 
Just now the main road through the national park has been completely closed between Degollada de Peraza (where the road to Santiago branches off) and Apartacaminos (above Arure). Traffic between Valle Gran Rey and the capital San Sebastian de La Gomera is being diverted via the north road through Vallehermoso and Hermigua and vice versa.

Image: gomeranoticias.com

Caution: Big waves today

All the way from the storms in Ireland...

La Puntilla, Valle Gran Rey at lunchtime Tuesday Jan.7th, 2014

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