Saturday, July 28, 2007

Summer weather warnings: Tenerife

August is almost here and, after a lot of not at all July-like, July weather here in the north, today, whilst it's a "nice cool" 28 C / 82 F here indoors, opening the front door was like opening the door on a blast furnace. So I've never opened the door of a blast furnace, but it's what I imagine it to be like. The very hot air came at me and hit me in the face like a brick wall!

In the south of Tenerife, even though there are scattered clouds, it's passed the "magic" 33 C mark (more on that in a moment), today reaching 34 C, with 35 C forecast for Sunday and 36 C on Monday/Tuesday and, with lows of around the 25 - 26 C mark at night, according to Weather Underground.

This means the weather alert situation has been raised to orange.

Why, where do we get that information and what does it all mean?

The weather alert information in Spain comes from the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (National Meteorological Institute) and, specifically, this page: Avisos meteorológicos (Meteorological Warnings). This screenshot, taken today, shows that much of the south of the Spanish mainland and the Canary Islands are colored in orange, while other areas are yellow or green.

Green No risk Yellow Low risk Orange Important risk Red Extreme risk

On the map on the live page, if you hover over any of the areas where there is any level of alert yellow, orange and, if there were any, red; a little icon shows above the map, indicating what weather condition is the cause.

Those little weather pictures are pretty easy to understand, even without knowing any Spanish, but you can get English explanations for them and see the similar map for the whole of Europe, here at MeteoAlarm.

What each of those colored risk levels mean, explain INM, is that "risk" is directly related to "rarity": that is to say that the more unusual a phenomenon is, the less prepared the population is to deal with its effects.

GREEN	No meteorological risk exists.
YELLOW	There is no meteorological risk for the general population, although there is for some activity in particular. This level does not produce a warning, but does alert people to be attentive to the forecast.
ORANGE	An important meteorological risk exists (meteorological phenomenon that are not habitual and that pose a certain grade of danger for normal activities.)
RED	The meteorological risk is extreme (meteorological phenomenon that are not habitual, of exceptional intensity and with a very high level of risk for the population.)

Something they do not take into account, but you should, is that the levels given for Tenerife and the Canary Islands considers "usual" for these islands. If you're visiting temporarily from the north of Europe, your personal level of preparedness to deal with high temperatures, for instance, will be less. Your level of risk may therefore be higher than the general, local, population.

What criteria are usual / unusual on these islands?

The INM have published all the facts and figures (in Spanish, naturally) in a PDF document, but Canarias24horas have explained it all in plainer language (still Spanish) here. Ah, but you want it in English, don't you? :)

Levels and Recommendations

To qualify as a "heatwave" in the strict sense, temperatures have to reach some maximums and minimums simultaneously. These thresholds are fixed by the National Meteorological Institute and for the Canary Islands, they are 33 C maximum and 23 C minimum (i.e. nighttime).

Level one yellow is activated when the forecast (note: not the actual) is for temperatures equal to or above the 33 maximum and 23 minimum for one or two days. At this level, you are recommended to drink water frequently, avoid going out during hours of sun and to use sun protection.

If the forecast for these temperatures prolongs to 3 or 4 consecutive days (as you'll note from what I told you above about today, tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday's forecast), then level 2 orange is activated. A warning to the population is issued so that people can be especially attentive to the needs of special risk groups, such as; young children, old people, pregnant women and the chronically infirm. Recommendations are to keep hydrated, stay in the shade, avoid going out during hours of sun and to use sun protection.

If the high temperatures prolong for 5 days or more, then level 3 red comes into force and the above mentioned precautions need to be reinforced as well as using air-conditioning (ha, if we had any). They also recommend precaution when undertaking sports activities and in carrying out any heavy work. In case of any symptoms, such as exhaustion, muscle cramps, symptoms of fatigue or dizzinesses, get medical attention or call 112.

Another cause of weather alerts are the calimas (Saharan Air Layer) that can happen at any time of year. In winter, these same levels and their corresponding recommendations, will come into force for different reasons, such as heavy rains, high seas, strong winds or unusual storms.

Labels: Tenerife Weather, Weather