By 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Tasarte, on the west of Gran Canaria, became the hottest place in the country, having reached up to 44.8ºC in the shade, while to the east of Gran Canaria, Pájara, on the island of Fuerteventura recorded gusts of hot desert wind that reached 161 kilometres per hour, the strongest in the entire national territory.
In fact The Canary Islands and a large part of mainland Spain have seen temperatures above 40ºC all week. Tasarte, in the western municipality of La Aldea de San Nicolás on Gran Canaria, suffered the most intense recorded temperatures in all Spain this Thursday, July 13, according to data from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), with maximums of 44.8ºC in the shade measured in the mid afternoon.
On Wednesday, four out of the ten hottest places in Spain were on the island. Tasarte, Maspalomas (43.3º), Agüimes (42.1º), and Lomo Pedro Alfonso, in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (41.7º), while the hottest point on the mainland hit 41.4º, in Carrión de los Céspedes, Seville.
The forecast from the AEMET’s Territorial Delegation in the Canary Islands have predicted continued high temperatures this Friday, with Orange advisories in place, more pronounced in inland areas and the southern slopes, where maximum temperatures will remain significantly high, with the orange warning at the summits and midlands of southern Gran Canaria with temperatures between 40ºC and 41ºC, and yellow and orange alerts in the rest of the islands, between 36ºC and 39ºC.
Moderate to strong trade winds on southeastern and northwestern slopes, with a Yellow warning for gusts around 70 to 80 km/h on several islands, and an orange alert on La Gomera for the end of the day with 90 km/h expected.
The Saharan calima dusts are affecting southern-oriented midlands and high areas.
Strong Desert Winds
Alongside the tremendous heat felt across the Canary Islands, meteorologists registered ten locations with the highest wind gusts in Spain on Thursday, all in the Canary Islands.
Pájara, on the south of Fuerteventura, ranked first in the entire national territory, with gusts of 161 kilometres per hour recorded at 2:50 p.m. This was more than double the recorded wind speeds in Fuencaliente, on La Palma (71 kilometres per hour).
On Gran Canaria, in La Aldea de San Nicolás, gusts reached 87 kilometres per hour, compared to 86km/h in Suerte Alta (Agaete), Las Tirajanas (82 km/h), Agüimes (75 km/h), and Cuevas del Pinar (72km/h).
The winds will drop off as we move through Friday, returning to light coastal breezes this weekend.
Temperatures start to drop
Temperatures will see a slight to moderate decrease, although will remain high in inland areas, according to the forecast from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency.
Temperatures of 37ºC in inland areas oriented to the west, south, and southeast of Gran Canaria and on Tenerife, and between 34º and 36ºC inland and higher areas of El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma, as well as in inland areas oriented to the south of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Additionally, the Directorate General of Security and Emergencies updates the alert status for coastal phenomena (rough seas and strong winds) on the islands of El Hierro, La Gomera, as well as the southeast of Tenerife and the Anaga-Agaete channel, and pre-alert status for the rest of the archipelago’s coast.
As we head into the weekend temperatures should start to fall back towards seasonal norms, but still warm, with daytime highs in the shade of between 32º & 34ºC and night time lows of around 23º- 25ºC
