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The 1826 Canary Islands storm (also known as San Florencio Storm^[1]) was the worst weather-related disaster in the history of the Canary Islands, claiming at least 298 lives. It was likely either a tropical cyclone or a storm system derived from a tropical cyclone.

Meteorological history

The November 1826 storm^[2] has been explained as a tropical storm that intensified after an interaction with a mid-latitude trough and moved close to the Canary Islands;^[3] atmospheric pressures dropped to 966–947 hPa (28.5–28.0 inHg) at 500 metres (1,600 ft) elevation.^[4] Alternatively, the storm might have been an extratropical cyclone that formed from a tropical system.^[5] The French naturalist Sabin Berthelot explicitly called this storm a "hurricane".^[5]

Impact

The storm impacted the entire Canary Islands, with some islands disproportionately hit. It is still the worst known weather-related disaster in the history of the Canary Islands.^[6]

Trees and plantations were flattened and winds^[7] with gusts probably exceeding 120–150 kilometres per hour (75–93 mph)^[8] damaged houses (reportedly 603 in Tenerife alone) and ships in ports (of which six were reportedly lost);^[7] the death toll in Tenerife reached 298 and sources speak of "floating cadavers" and "infinite number of dead".^[9] Most of the destruction and death toll was caused by the precipitation;^[8] with some places seeing over 500 mm (20 in) of rain.

Geomorphological changes also took place in the islands as a consequence of the storm, an alluvial fan on Teide^[10] and flood deposits on Lanzarote were most likely formed by it.^[1]

Records

Research on past tropical cyclone activity in the Canary Islands has gained importance after Tropical Storm Delta passed through the islands in 2005, amid concerns of global warming.^[11] Other storm events with rainfall that affected the Canary Islands aside from Tropical Storm Delta occurred in December 1645, January 1713, October 1722, November 1922, January 1957 and December 1975; none, however, was as intense as the 1826 event.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b Criado, C; Dorta, P; Bethencourt, J; Navarro, JF; Romero, C; García, C (1 December 2013). "Evidence of historic infilling of valleys in Lanzarote after the Timanfaya eruption (ad 1730–1736, Canary Islands, Spain)". The Holocene. 23 (12): 10. Bibcode:2013Holoc..23.1786C. doi:10.1177/0959683613505342. ISSN 0959-6836. S2CID 129574882.
^ Criado, Dorta & Bethencourt 2008, p. 46.
^ Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 334.
^ Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 335.
^ ^a ^b Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 336.
^ Dorta Antequera, Pedro; Yanes Luque, Amalia; Rodríguez-Báez, José Ángel (2017). "Determinación y caracterización de situaciones de temporal marino e inundación costera por rebase del oleaje en San Andrés, NE de Tenerife (1984-2014)". Investigaciones Geográficas (68): 98. doi:10.14198/INGEO2017.68.06. ISSN 1989-9890.
^ ^a ^b Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 331.
^ ^a ^b Criado, Dorta & Bethencourt 2008, p. 48.
^ Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 332.
^ Carracedo, Juan Carlos; Troll, Valentin R. (2013). Teide Volcano: Geology and Eruptions of a Highly Differentiated Oceanic Stratovolcano. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 51. ISBN 9783642258930.
^ Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 329.
^ Bethencourt-González & Dorta-Antequera 2010, p. 330.

Sources

Bethencourt-González, José; Dorta-Antequera, Pedro (2010). "The storm of november 1826 in the canary islands: Possibly a tropical cyclone?". Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography. 92 (3): 329–337. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0459.2010.00398.x. ISSN 0435-3676. JSTOR 40930998. S2CID 129932701.
Criado, Constantino; Dorta, Pedro; Bethencourt, José Francisco (2008). El temporal de 1928: reconstrucción de sus causas y sus consecuencias en la Isla de Tenerife. Asociación Española de Climatología. hdl:20.500.11765/8551. ISBN 9788461260515.
Hernández Morán, José (1968). "Efectos del aluvión de 1826 en Güímar". Revista de historia canaria (in Spanish). 32. La Laguna de Tenerife: 222–231.
Yanes, Amalia (October 1993). Los aluviones históricos en Canarias. XIII Congreso Nacional de Geografía. Vol. Actas del XIII Congreso Nacional de Geografía. pp. 611–615 – via ResearchGate.