Calima in El Hierro today

Is there calima, the Saharan dust haze, over El Hierro today? This page shows the dust warnings in force from Spain's State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) and the Copernicus dust forecast for the next 5 days. Times are Canary Islands time.

5-day dust forecast for El Hierro

Dust optical depth at midday (12:00 UTC) from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service global forecast, with this site's level words. Dust optical depth (at 550 nm) measures how much sunlight the dust in the whole column of air above a place blocks. Below 0.1 there is little or no dust; around 0.4 the sky looks hazy; above 0.8 is a thick dust event. It counts dust at every height, so a high value in summer can mean dust a few kilometres up rather than in the air you breathe, and it is not a measure of air quality or a warning. The level words on this page are this site's rough guide, not an official scale.

Forecast read 17:52 WEST. "Not read" means that day did not answer or is past the end of the forecast run, not that there is no dust. The level words: Little or none from 0.0 · Light from 0.1 · Moderate from 0.2 · Heavy from 0.4 · Very heavy from 0.8.

All AEMET warnings for El Hierro

Calima often comes with heat or strong wind, so every warning is listed, dust or not. If AEMET's dust warning reaches MeteoAlarm under another name, it is in this list too.

AEMET warning zones on El Hierro: El Hierro.

What is calima?

Calima is the Canary Islands' word for Saharan dust in the air. When wind blows from the east or south-east off the Sahara, fine mineral dust is carried out over the Atlantic and reaches the islands within a day or two. The sky turns hazy, white or yellowish, visibility drops, and an episode often brings hot, dry air with it. The eastern islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, about 100 km from the African coast, usually get it first and worst; La Palma and El Hierro, furthest west, least.

When does calima peak?

Calima can come in any month, but it has two seasons. In winter, roughly December to March, dust often arrives near the ground with strong easterly winds, and the thickest episodes on record were in winter: in February 2020 a dust storm closed the islands' airports for most of a weekend. In summer, July and August, the dust usually travels higher up, often with a heatwave, so the sky is hazy and the heat is the bigger problem while the air at street level can stay clearer. Episodes usually last from one to several days.

Questions

Is there calima in El Hierro today?

No AEMET dust (calima) warning is in force for El Hierro in the MeteoAlarm warnings this site reads (checked 20:52 WEST). Other AEMET warnings in force or announced: 1 Yellow for rain. The Copernicus (CAMS) forecast for midday today over El Hierro: little or no Saharan dust (dust optical depth 0.00). The most dust in the next 5 days is forecast for Thu 22 Oct: light (0.10).

What is calima?

Calima is the Canary Islands' word for Saharan dust in the air. When wind blows from the east or south-east off the Sahara, fine mineral dust is carried out over the Atlantic and reaches the islands within a day or two. The sky turns hazy, white or yellowish, visibility drops, and an episode often brings hot, dry air with it. The eastern islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, about 100 km from the African coast, usually get it first and worst; La Palma and El Hierro, furthest west, least.

When is calima season in the Canary Islands?

Calima can come in any month, but it has two seasons. In winter, roughly December to March, dust often arrives near the ground with strong easterly winds, and the thickest episodes on record were in winter: in February 2020 a dust storm closed the islands' airports for most of a weekend. In summer, July and August, the dust usually travels higher up, often with a heatwave, so the sky is hazy and the heat is the bigger problem while the air at street level can stay clearer. Episodes usually last from one to several days.

Who issues calima warnings?

AEMET, Spain's State Meteorological Agency, issues warnings for suspended dust ("polvo en suspensión") zone by zone when visibility is forecast to fall, and the Canary Islands government's emergency service (1-1-2 Canarias) declares pre-alerts and alerts for calima under its own plan. This page shows AEMET's warnings as published through MeteoAlarm and does not issue warnings.

Is calima bad for your health?

Health authorities say fine dust can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and can worsen asthma and heart and lung conditions, especially for children, older people and pregnant women. This site gives no health advice of its own: follow the Canary Islands health service and the World Health Organization, linked on this page, and call 112 in an emergency.

Does calima cancel flights to El Hierro?

Thick calima can cut visibility at the airports enough to divert or delay flights, and in February 2020 it closed them. This page does not show flight status: check your airline and Aena, the airport operator, linked below.

What does dust optical depth mean?

Dust optical depth (at 550 nm) measures how much sunlight the dust in the whole column of air above a place blocks. Below 0.1 there is little or no dust; around 0.4 the sky looks hazy; above 0.8 is a thick dust event. It counts dust at every height, so a high value in summer can mean dust a few kilometres up rather than in the air you breathe, and it is not a measure of air quality or a warning. The level words on this page are this site's rough guide, not an official scale.

Other islands

Calima in Tenerife · Calima in Gran Canaria · Calima in Lanzarote · Calima in Fuerteventura · Calima in La Palma · Calima in La Gomera · All the Canary Islands

All AEMET warnings for the Canary Islands · Heat warnings in Europe · Spain disaster overview

Warnings issued by State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), via MeteoAlarm. MeteoAlarm. Data provided by EUMETNET members. Licensed under terms equivalent to CC BY 4.0; level, type, day and island are shown in words by this site, next to each warning's text as issued. www.meteoalarm.org

Time delays between this website and the www.meteoalarm.org website are possible. For the most up-to-date awareness information as published by the participating National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, please refer to www.meteoalarm.org.

Dust forecast: contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026 (dust aerosol optical depth at 550 nm, CAMS global forecast, read through ECMWF's public WMS; the level words are this site's). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. Licence to use Copernicus products.