Tenerife - Climate

Climate

Tenerife is known internationally as the "Island of Eternal Spring" (Isla de la Eterna Primavera). The island, being on a latitude of the Sahara Desert, enjoys a warm climate year-round with an average of 20–22 °C in the winter and 26–28 °C in the summer and high sunshine totals. The moderate climate of Tenerife is controlled to a great extent by the tradewinds, whose humidity, principally, is condensed over the north and northeast of the island, creating cloud banks that range between 600 and 1,800 meters in height. The cold sea currents of the Canary Islands, also have a cooling effect on the coasts and its beaches and the topography of the landscape plays a role in climatic differences on the island with its many valleys.

Major climatic contrasts on the island are highly evident especially during the winter months when it is possible to enjoy the warm sunshine on the coast and experience snow within just miles, 3000 metres above sea level on Teide. There are also major contrasts at low altitude, where the climate ranges from arid (Köppen BWh) on the southeastern side represented by Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Mediterranean (Csa/Csb) on the northwestern side in Buenaventura del Norte and La Orotava.

The north and the south of Tenerife similarly have different climatic characteristics. The windward northwestern side of the island receives 73% of all precipitation on the island, and the relative humidity of the air is superior and the insolation inferior. The pluviometric maximums are registered on the windward side at an average altitude of between 1,000 and 1,200 metres, almost exclusively in the La Orotava mountain range. However, although climatic differences in rainfall and sunshine on the island exist, overall annual precipitation is low and the summer months from May to September are normally completely dry. Rainfall, akin to Southern California, can also be extremely erratic from one year to another.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
34 20 15	36 21 14	29 22 14	14 23 15	4 24 17	1 25 20	0 27 22	1 28 21	6 28 21	18 25 21	27 24 17	44 22 15
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source:

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
1.3 68 59	1.4 70 57	1.1 72 57	0.6 73 59	0.2 75 63	0 77 68	0 81 72	0 82 70	0.2 82 70	0.7 77 70	1.1 75 63	1.7 72 59
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches

Buenavista del Norte

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
167 17 12	95 17 11	70 17 12	18 17 12	12 19 13	9 20 14	1 22 17	3 23 18	4 23 17	90 21 16	207 19 15	122 17 13
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source:

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
6.6 63 54	3.7 63 52	2.8 63 54	0.7 63 54	0.5 66 55	0.4 68 57	0 72 63	0.1 73 64	0.2 73 63	3.5 70 61	8.1 66 59	4.8 63 55
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches

Famous quotes containing the word climate:

“There is much to be said against the climate on the coast of British Columbia and Alaska; yet, I believe that the scenery of one good day will compensate the tourists who will go there in increasing numbers.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

“Nobody is so constituted as to be able to live everywhere and anywhere; and he who has great duties to perform, which lay claim to all his strength, has, in this respect, a very limited choice. The influence of climate upon the bodily functions ... extends so far, that a blunder in the choice of locality and climate is able not only to alienate a man from his actual duty, but also to withhold it from him altogether, so that he never even comes face to face with it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

“The climate has been described as “ten months winter and two months mighty late in the fall.””
—Administration in the State of Colo, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)