Climaviso

ESEN

Storm Karim: wind in Galicia, 19–20 February 2021

19 February 2021 to 20 February 2021. Updated 26 October 2026.

AEMET named this storm Karim on 17 February 2021.

Over 2 days, 13 of Spain's 182 warning zones had an orange or red warning for wind: 24 zone-days at orange or red, 0 of them red. The day with the most zones at orange or red was 20 February, with 13 zones.

20 February was the day with the most people in zones under an orange or red warning: 2.3 million people live there (INE municipal register, 2025).

RedOrangeYellowNo warningEach zone at the highest warning it had during the episode. Grey: no warning on those days.
True-colour satellite image of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands on 20 February 2021
Spain from space on 20 February 2021, the day with the most zones at orange or red. Image: NASA Worldview.

How it compares

Day by day

DayRedOrangeYellowOrange or red warnings for
Fri 19 February—118wind, rain
Sat 20 February—1349wind, rain

Zones with a warning each day, at their highest level that day.

The zones

ZoneProvinceHighest levelWarning days
A MariñaLugoorange2
Centro y valle de VillaverdeCantabriaorange2
Cordillera y Picos de EuropaAsturiasorange2
Interior de A CoruñaA Coruñaorange2
Interior de PontevedraPontevedraorange2
LiébanaCantabriaorange2
Miño de PontevedraPontevedraorange2
Noroeste de A CoruñaA Coruñaorange2
Oeste de A CoruñaA Coruñaorange2
Rias BaixasPontevedraorange2
Suroeste de A CoruñaA Coruñaorange2
Cordillera Cantábrica de LeónLeónorange2
Cordillera Cantábrica de PalenciaPalenciaorange2

And 49 more zones with yellow warnings only.

What AEMET's stations measured

The most measured in the zones with an orange or red warning, on their warning days: a 183 km/h gust at Coriscao, Parque Nacional Picos de Europa (Liébana) on 20 February.

ZoneStrongest gust
Liébana183 km/h
Coriscao, Parque Nacional Picos de Europa · 20 February
Cordillera y Picos de Europa135 km/h
Sotres, Parque Nacional Picos de Europa · 20 February
Cordillera Cantábrica de Palencia123 km/h
Velilla del Río Carrión, Camporredondo de Alba · 20 February
Noroeste de A Coruña123 km/h
Estaca de Bares · 20 February
Centro y valle de Villaverde121 km/h
Alto Campoo · 20 February
Oeste de A Coruña108 km/h
Fisterra · 19 February
Cordillera Cantábrica de León106 km/h
Puerto de San Isidro · 20 February
A Mariña89 km/h
Ribadeo · 20 February
Interior de Pontevedra87 km/h
Lalin-Cristimil · 20 February
Rias Baixas85 km/h
Vigo Aeropuerto · 20 February
Interior de A Coruña84 km/h
Santiago de Compostela Aeropuerto · 20 February
Suroeste de A Coruña71 km/h
Noia · 19 February
Miño de Pontevedrano reading

For each zone, the highest value its AEMET stations measured on the episode's warning days (the lowest, for the low temperature), with the station and the day. Rain from 07:00 to 07:00 UTC; gust: the day's strongest. It is what the zone's stations measured, not every town, and a measurement, like a warning, is not damage.

How AEMET's warnings unfolded

The orange warning reached 24 zone-days, and AEMET always issued it ahead of time (median: 37 h). The first warning of any level for those same days had come a median 17 h earlier.

ZoneDayFirst warningOrange issuedFor · notice
Interior de PontevedraFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5418:00 · 43 h before
LiébanaFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5412:00 · 37 h before
Miño de PontevedraFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5418:00 · 43 h before
Oeste de A CoruñaFri 19Tue 16 Feb, 23:50 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5412:00 · 37 h before
Rias BaixasFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5418:00 · 43 h before
Suroeste de A CoruñaFri 19Tue 16 Feb, 23:50 yellowWed 17 Feb, 22:5412:00 · 37 h before
A MariñaFri 19Tue 16 Feb, 23:50 yellowThu 18 Feb, 21:5512:00 · 14 h before
Interior de A CoruñaFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowThu 18 Feb, 21:5512:00 · 14 h before
Noroeste de A CoruñaFri 19Tue 16 Feb, 23:50 yellowThu 18 Feb, 21:5512:00 · 14 h before
Centro y valle de VillaverdeFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellowThu 18 Feb, 21:5618:00 · 20 h before
Cordillera y Picos de EuropaFri 19Wed 17 Feb, 11:31 yellow08:4418:00 · 9 h before
Cordillera y Picos de EuropaSat 20Wed 17 Feb, 23:50 orangeWed 17 Feb, 23:5000:00 · 48 h before
Interior de A CoruñaSat 20Wed 17 Feb, 23:50 orangeWed 17 Feb, 23:5000:00 · 48 h before
Interior de PontevedraSat 20Wed 17 Feb, 23:50 orangeWed 17 Feb, 23:5000:00 · 48 h before
LiébanaSat 20Wed 17 Feb, 23:50 orangeWed 17 Feb, 23:5000:00 · 48 h before

And 9 more zone-days.

The full timeline: 41 changes at orange or red

Wed 17 February

Thu 18 February

Fri 19 February

Sat 20 February

  • Oeste de A Coruña: Raises the rain warning to orange: Saturday 20, 09:00–18:00. Up to 80 mm in 12 h.
  • A Mariña: Raises the wind warning to orange: Saturday 20, 13:00–14:00. Gusts up to 100 km/h.

AEMET's issue times, in mainland Spain time (Canary Islands in island time). Notice is the time from issue to the first hour the warning covered; a warning issued “for the current hour” runs from the hour it is published.

What this says and what it doesn't

A warning is an AEMET forecast, not a measurement or a damage report: it says a threshold is expected to be exceeded in a zone. A warning is not damage; a zone is not a building.

A zone-day is one warning zone with a warning on one day. Ten zones at orange on the same day make ten zone-days. A day with several warnings in one zone counts once, at its highest level.

Each zone has its own thresholds, so an orange heat warning in Asturias doesn't mean the same temperature as in Córdoba. More in how warnings work.

To cite: “Climaviso, from AEMET warnings”.

Source: official AEMET warnings, collected by Climaviso since June 2018.

← Previous episode · All episodes · Next episode → · 2021 warnings review