The General Directorate of Security and Emergencies of the Canary Islands Government has activated an alert for snowfalls in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and La Palma from 6:00pm this afternoon (Thursday).
The last time a snow alert was decreed on these three islands at the same time was in January 2018, and it is forecast that we will see as much snow as Filomena brought last month, and could have a record amount in certain areas.
Snowfall is expected in high areas and peaks of La Palma and Tenerife above 1,500 metres of altitude. In the early hours of tomorrow (Friday), as the cold front advances over the islands, the level may drop to 1,300 metres of altitude, which will add Gran Canaria to the affected islands.
The Canary Islands Government is predicting that snow will accumulate on the ground from 1,600 or 1,800 metres of altitude, so the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has activated the yellow warning for snow which is for more than two centimetres of accumulation on these three islands.
This notice is active in the case of La Palma and Tenerife, from 6:00pm today until 11:59pm tomorrow night, whereas in Gran Canaria, the notice comes into effect at midnight tonight until 11:59pm tomorrow.
Apart from snow at altitude, rain of up to 15 litres per square meter in an hour, storms, gusts of wind above 80 kilometres per hour, and waves of up to five metres on the El Hierro coast and La Palma are all expected.
According to AEMET these conditions are all expected until Saturday afternoon when they will begin to disperse before it clears up on Sunday.
At the moment, the General Directorate of Security and Emergencies is still watching the evolution of the meteorological forecast closely and are not ruling out that it may add some more alerts in the next few hours in addition to the alert for snowfall.
