*2.2. Datasets*

The investigation is based on four datasets of different nature. On the one hand, datasets including oceanographic and meteorological information have been provided by the Spanish Port authority and include wind and wave data obtained from the coupling of wind and wave numerical models (hindcasting), wind and wave observations recorded in-situ by means of meteoceanic buoys, and mean water level information registered with a tide gauge. On the other hand, in the absence of more rigorous sources of information, evidence on the impact of wave storms in the coastal zone of interest has been obtained by using the digital information database JABLE [14], created by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which includes an enormous volume of historical and current press produced in the Canary Islands from 1808 to the present. This digital platform allows

searching on a specific topic with keywords by island, locality, period, etc., among more than 7 million pages from more than 700 newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, gazettes, journals, magazines, and other serial publications.

The database containing wind and wave information obtained by using wind and wave numerical models is referred to as SIMAR and provides information covering the period from January 1958 to March 2020. Placement of computational mesh hindcasting grid nodes selected to characterize wind and wave climate is indicated in Figure 2a. The eight points located in the outer edges of the archipelago are hereinafter cited as external points (EPX), where X indicates each specific point. Similarly, five hindcasting grid nodes used to explore wind and wave conditions in the southern flank of Tenerife are designated as internal points, denoted by IPX. The location of IPX points is more clearly depicted in Figure 2b, which also shows the position of two meteoceanic buoys measuring wind and wave conditions, one located northwest of Gran Canaria and other south of Tenerife, respectively referred to as BGN and BTS wave buoys, and belonging to the network of meteoceanic deep water buoys (REDEXT) of the Spanish Port Authority. These buoys are anchored in areas deeper than 200 m and are located at positions virtually coincident with two SIMAR points. Time series provided by both buoys have an hourly sampling rate and cover the periods from June 1997 to December 2019 (BGN) and from April 1998 to March 2020 (BTS), but directional sensors were not available until 2003. Regarding mean sea level fluctuations, measurements have been carried out with a tide gauge at the northeastern tip of Gran Canaria (TG), as shown in Figure 2b. The corresponding dataset includes hourly values of sea water level and cover the period from July 1992 to March 2020.

**Figure 2.** Map of the Canary archipelago showing location of external (**a**) and internal SIMAR points, as well as wave buoys and tide gauge (**b**).

Regarding the geometric configuration of the archipelago, it is important to visualize the existence of two deep channels between La Gomera and Tenerife, and between Gran Canaria and Tenerife (Figure 2b), hereinafter referred to as G-T and GC-T channels. The approximate average depths of both channels are 1600 m (G-T) and 2700 m (GC-T), while the minimum widths are 29 km (G-T) and 61 km (GC-T), approximately. It is also important to mention that these three central islands are substantially high, with altitudes exceeding 1500 m and reaching up to 3700 m, approximately.

Standard sea state parameters used to characterize wave climatology have been derived from spectral moments of the directional spectral density function, *S(f,θ)*, which represents the energy contribution of any wave component to the measured wave field in terms of the frequency, *f*, and propagation direction, *θ*. The most important parameter for the characterization of a sea state is the significant wave height, *Hm*0, defined as four times the square root of the zero-th order spectral moment, *m*0, which represents the total energy of the process. Therefore, *Hm*<sup>0</sup> is proportional to the energy content of the corresponding

sea state and, consequently, it is the parameter used to represent its severity, as a general rule. In the case of wave periods, there are several optional characteristic periods that can be used in light of the objectives pursued. Two of the most widely employed in practice are used in this study. These are the average wave period, *T*02, and the spectral peak period, *Tp*, which is the period associated with the most energetic spectral wave components. In this regard, it is important to note that, in contrast to *T*02, *Tp* is not computed by means of spectral moments but considering a single spectral estimate and therefore presents considerable statistical uncertainty, or statistical variability [15]. In terms of wave direction propagation, the most common parameter used to characterize the directional properties of a wave field is the mean spectral direction, *θm*, which represents the mean approaching direction averaged over all the frequency bands in the directional wave spectrum. The analytical expression of the above-described characteristic parameters in terms of the directional spectrum can be found throughout the literature (e.g., [16]).
