1826 Canary Islands storm
The 1826 Canary Islands storm 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 has been explained as a tropical storm that intensified after an interaction with a mid-latitude trough and moved close to the Canary Islands; atmospheric pressures dropped to at elevation. Alternatively, the storm might have been an extratropical cyclone that formed from a tropical system. The French naturalist Sabin Berthelot explicitly called this storm a "hurricane".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.Trees and plantations were flattened and winds with gusts probably exceeding damaged houses and ships in ports ; the death toll in Tenerife reached 298 and sources speak of "floating cadavers" and "infinite number of dead". Most of the destruction and death toll was caused by the precipitation.
Geomorphological changes also took place in the islands as a consequence of the storm, an alluvial fan on Teide and flood deposits on Lanzarote were most likely formed by it.
During this storm, the original statue of the Virgin of Candelaria, the patron saint of the Canary Islands, disappeared.