David Suárez, head of Spain’s weather agency AEMET on the Canaries, said yesterday that nowadays “nothing could be ruled out” in terms of weather on the islands.
Suárez said that, before the arrival of tropical storm Hermine last September, he would have said that it could never snow on Lanzarote, but stressed that “the climate is changing”, and referred to recent phenomena such as the sea fog of earlier this month and the hail that fell in February.
Suárez also paid tribute to the 300 people who assist AEMET on the Canaries, 20 of whom are located on Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
Mist disrupts flights
Earlier this month, large areas of Lanzarote’s coast experienced a thick, eerie sea mist, cutting visibility down considerably which caused planes to be diverted from the airport.
The mist, apparently caused by warm air coming into contact with the sea, affected the south-east coast of the island from Costa Teguise to Puerto del Carmen, and persisted throughout the morning into the early afternoon. At least four flights were redirected to Fuerteventura or Gran Canaria due to poor visibility at César Manrique Airport.
Flight operations had returned to normal on Lanzarote by 6pm on March 12th, by which time Fuerteventura Airport was also redirecting flights due to mist.
Unlike a calima, which usually has a yellowish or reddish tint, the mist was pure whitish-grey and was strictly limited to the coastline. In Costa Teguise, it was possible to look towards the sea and see thick mist, and look inland to see blue skies and distant volcanoes.
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