Our Beautiful World




The Extreme Weather of 2005   

Winter 2005 in the Canary Islands.
While writing this note, after having been here for 6 weeks, the rain is just
pouring down. Just 15 minutes ago, we suddenly could see several high
waterfalls coming down the mountainslopes behind our house, from the
Teguegenche mountain. We have never seen anything like that before.

It has been raining since early morning. We have bought the newspaper of
the day, and been reading about farmers rejoicing, about people having short
way to collect water now - and about the dangerous situation many of the
embankments are in. They are afraid they might collapse.
About rain and thunder on Tenerife, and snow above 1.600 m asl on Gran
Canary and La Palma. About problems expected when all the snow that has
come this winter will begin to melt......

Twice we have heard that "it has rained 3 days and nights" on Tenerife, and
we have seen pictures of snow-ploughs and snowmen on the other islands.
Wind at gale-force, and in the mountains up to 150 km/hour, thunderstorms
and between 8 and 25(?) centimeter rain within 24 hours somewhere.

We have had a wonderful stay. Here in Valle Gran Rey it looks like we are in
the shadow of the most. Just two days it has been raining, and perhaps a
few times at night-time. Of course it has been cloudy from time to time,
but as soon as the sun returned, we have been out having sunshine on
our bodies - or found our way down to the beaches. And as my wife uses
to say: " We won't say we it has rained two hours to day, - no, the sun has
been shining for 6..."

Perhaps it's better just let the pictures below speak for themselves:


Two kids on Gran Canary enjoying the winter....
(©Juan Carlos Alonso/Arcadio Suárez)


On the road to the Observatory on La Palma. - Don't drive too fast!
From Roche de Los Muchachos.
(© Jose Melián)


text to be translated...


What's so special spending the winter in the Canarian Islands?.....
(© Arcadio Suárez)

That's enough about snow... Here comes the rainy season:


For once the rivers were full of water, not just dust and sand....
At Artenara, where the water is pouring down from the Los Pérez-dam.
(© J. Pérez Curbelo)


Problems were that some of the dams were just to full of water.
See on top of picture, the water reaches just up to the top.
From the dam at El Parralillo.
(© Canarias7)


It was a thrill to drive around those days....
From El Muelle Deportive, Santa Cruz, Gran Canaria
(© Arcadio Suárez)


The highway between the two villages, Artenara and Tejeda,
up in the mountains on Gran Canary.
(© Fina Suárez)


We did not hire a car this year, as we felt it was a little to risky
to go around that way. On our feet we felt much more safe....
From Gran Canary where several higways were closed. You see why?
(© Fina Suárez)


Anyway, the weather created many a beautiful view....
La presa de Los Hornos, in Tejeda, Gran Canary.
(© JD/Canarias7)

And even if not all people were happy....


...so were the goats...


Goats at Los Alares on Fuerteventura happy as ever out in the green gras.
(© Guayedra Brito)

What does this mean for the tourism? Is it the end for the North-europeans
to go to the Canary Islands at winter-time? Will they now find more southernly
places for their winter-holiday, such as Thailand, Gambia or Brazil?

Normally most norwegians have gone abroad the year after a rainy summer.
Then when next summer has been better than ever...with lots of sun and
warm weather - while they have been somewhere abroad - they always
decide to be home the next (rainy) summer....

We think that if the climate on this earth is totally out of balance -
then it is, anyway, better to sit down here and see the sun in between -
rather than blew away in the winter-storms ravaging our homeland this winter.

We will wait and see....

Meanwhile, lets see how the rest of Spain - and Europe managed:


We did talk about just one or two weeks in the Baleares (Mallorca)
insted of The Canary Islands this year - but glad we didn't go there.....
(© EFE)


Cantabria, Northern Spain didn't look very nice for the traffic at times either...
(© EFE)


and the rest of Spain could tell about temperatures as low as 38° C.
From Segovia in Spain.
(© EFE/Juan Martin)


Still there was tourists finding the water warm there..... or?
From the beach near San Sebatián in Spain.
(© EFE)


Sign showing Chains for sale - so you can get your car up and going....
Just the right offer for the season!
From Reinosa, Northern Spain.
(© EFE)


That is, of course, if you could find your car.....
From Cantabria, Spain.
(© EFE/Estaban Cobo)



From Valencia, Spain.
(© EFE)

At the same time, both Heathrow and other airports in Great Britain were
closed from time to time, and BEA had cancelled several flights those days.

Some places in Norway reported temperatures down around minus 40° C,
and a weatherchart showed that most of Europe, including Greece and Turkey,
was covered by snow.

Guess if we were happy to be on La Gomera?




All pictures above, except the last one, apperared in the Canarian news paper
Canarias7
during the periode from January 18th to March 8th, 2005.
If any persons shown does not want to be shown, please excuse and inform!
If any copyrights are overlooked, please excuse and inform!


Extreme weather

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