Hurricanes in Spain
Hurricanes occur rarely in Spain. On average, they happen about once per year. The hardest hit regions are Galicia, Canary Islands and Andalusia.The hurricane season usually lasts from early June to late November.
The most severe hurricane to make landfall in Spain in the past 12 months was »Danielle«. It reached a wind speed of up to 65 km/h on September 13, 2022 at 8:00 am local time near Fisterra and was 37 kilometers in diameter at the time. According to the internationally accepted Saffir-Simpson classification, this corresponded to a tropical storm hurricane. On the open sea, speeds of up to 139 km/h were measured (category 1).
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Back to overview: Spain
Most violent hurricanes in Spain since 2018
Hermine: September 23-26, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 65 km/h
Diameter:
max. 370 km
Air pressure:
below 1003 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
The hurricane did not make direct landfall in Spain. On September 26th, 2022 at 1:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 193 km south of Frontera in Canary Islands.
Hermine: September 21-25, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 65 km/h
Diameter:
max. 333 km
Air pressure:
below 1002 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Danielle: August 31 to September 15, 2022
Wind speed:
max. 139 km/h
on land:
max. 65 km/h
Diameter:
max. 696 km
Air pressure:
below 972 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 1
Affected regions
Galicia
Galicia
Theta: November 8-16, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 111 km/h
on land:
max. 69 km/h
Diameter:
max. 926 km
Air pressure:
below 987 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Canary Islands
Canary Islands
Alpha: September 14-19, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 111 km/h
on land:
max. 83 km/h
Diameter:
max. 889 km
Air pressure:
below 992 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Andalusia
Extremadura
Castille and León
Andalusia
Extremadura
Castille and León
Paulette: September 7-28, 2020
Wind speed:
max. 167 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1111 km
Air pressure:
below 965 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 2
The hurricane did not make direct landfall in Spain. On September 25th, 2020 at 1:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 285 km north of Garachico in Canary Islands.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near Porto Moniz in Portugal on September 25th at 1:00 am.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near Porto Moniz in Portugal on September 25th at 1:00 am.
These evaluations are based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Individual data have been summarized or translated.