Assessment of Large Forest Fires in the Canary Islands and Their Relationship with Subsidence Thermal Inversion and Atmospheric Conditions

Jordan Correa () and Pedro Dorta
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Jordan Correa: Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilient Cities Chair and Territorial Management and Risks Research Group (GEORIESGOS), Department of Geography and History, University of La Laguna (ULL), 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Pedro Dorta: Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilient Cities Chair and Territorial Management and Risks Research Group (GEORIESGOS), Department of Geography and History, University of La Laguna (ULL), 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain

Geographies, 2025, vol. 5, issue 3, 1-29

Abstract: The prevailing environmental conditions before and during the 28 Large Forest Fires (LFFs) that have occurred in the Canary Islands since 1983 are analyzed. These conditions are often associated with episodes characterized by the advection of continental tropical air masses originating from the Sahara, which frequently result in intense heatwaves. During the onset of the LFFs, the base of the subsidence thermal inversion layer—separating a lower layer of cool, moist air from an upper layer of warm, dry air—is typically located at an altitude of around 350 m above sea level, approximately 600 m below the usual average. Understanding these Saharan air advection events is crucial, as they significantly alter the vertical thermal structure of the atmosphere and create highly conducive conditions for wildfire ignition and spread in the forested mid- and high-altitude zones of the archipelago. Analysis of meteorological records from various weather stations reveals that the average maximum temperature on the first day of fire ignition is 30.3 °C, with mean temperatures of 27.4 °C during the preceding week and 28.9 °C throughout the fire activity period. Relative humidity on the ignition days averages 24.3%, remaining at around 30% during the active phase of the fires. No significant correlation has been found between dry or wet years and the occurrence of LFFs, which have been recorded across years with widely varying precipitation levels.

Keywords: forest fires; Canary Islands; subsidence thermal inversion; heatwaves (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q15 Q5 Q53 Q54 Q56 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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