Caracterización y evolución de las temperaturas mínimas en Canarias (1950-2023)

Abstract

This paper studies the spatial distribution of minimum temperatures in the Canary Islands, as well as their evolution over the last decades. For this purpose, we analyse the daily minimum temperature records between 1950 and 2023 from fifty-three weather stations whose location is representative of the compartmentalised climatic conditions of the Canary Islands. Information from the ERA5-Land atmospheric reanalysis is used to reconstruct and homogenise the series, and interpolation is then performed to map the thermal conditions of the entire archipelago. The results show the great influence of altitude on temperature in the Canary Islands, so that the coasts —<300 m.a.s.l..— average a monthly minimum temperature of 18°C during the analysis period, while the summits —>1 200 m.a.s.l.— record an average of 8°C. This thermal gradation according to island elevation is also evident in the distribution of the absolute minimum temperature —below -20°C in the culminating sectors of some islands and above 10°C in warm coastal areas—, as well as in the temporal evolution of the variable. In this sense, although a generalised warming has been identified throughout the Canary Islands, the increase in minimum temperatures at the summits —0.2°C per decade and, at some points, 0.3°C— is much higher than on the coasts —less than 0.1°C in certain areas—.