The Canary Islands enjoy warm weather all year round and normally see only a handful of rainy days over a 12-month period.
However, at times they can be engulfed by bad weather – as is predicted to happen over this weekend due to the arrival of a weather system dubbed DANA by Spanish experts.
DANA stands for isolated depression at high levels of the atmosphere and sees pockets of cold air reaching the Canaries, causing a sudden drop in temperatures and the discharge of rain.
As the DANA arrives in the Spanish archipelago, the country’s meteorological agency AEMET has issued three-day-long yellow weather warnings, to last between March 22 and 24.
On Friday, the warning starting from 9am local time (8am GMT) is only for heavy rainfall, reading: “Cumulative precipitation in one hour: 15 mm.”
This covers Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, although the rainfall is likely to affect mostly their inland areas and southeast slopes, while it interests inland areas facing southeast in both Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
Tourists in the archipelago will need to be mindful of the weather on Saturday, too, with more warnings coming into force on the day.
AEMET has issued hours-long yellow warnings for rainfall, storms and wind. Areas of Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera will be hit by strong wind, with maximum gusts forecasted to be at 70km/h.
These areas are also to be affected by the rain warning, as are Lanzarote and Fuerteventura among others.
The yellow warning for Lanzarote read: “Accumulated precipitation in one hour: 20 mm. Mainly affecting inland areas and midlands facing north and northwest.”
Rainfall will linger during the morning of March 24, with AEMET’s yellow warning for rain lasting until 11.59am local time (10.59am GMT).
These weather warnings are coming only a few days after the local government of the Canaries issued the fourth pre-alert status of the year for Calima, another weather phenomenon typical of the area.
This meteorological phenomenon sees fine sand and dust particles from the Sahara Desert being lifted into the atmosphere and transported by the wind to the archipelago, producing varying effects – from lowered visibility to a spike in temperatures.
