Climate
The province is noted for its quite extreme weather, ranging from tropical in the east (and almost sub-humid in some particular east-facing slopes) to absolutely desert-like in the west. Temperatures vary widely with altitude, but the low-lying areas are noted for the extreme summer heat: average high temperatures go from 33ºC to 35ºC (91F to 95F) and can sometimes be above 45ºC (113F), albeit with significant cooling at night and low humidity. Almost all the scarce precipitation falls as intense, sporadic thunderstorms in this season.
Fall is short and pleasant, while winters are extremely dry. Daytime temperatures vary, but they usually stay in the 18ºC (64F) to 22ºC (72F) range, while nights are quite cold at 0ºC (32F) to 7ºC (45F). Days over 30ºC (86F) or nights below -6ºC (21F) cannot be ruled out, even during the same week. In the desert, or in higher areas, frost occurs every night, and temperatures as low as -10ºC (14F) are not rare. In the high Andes, of course, under -30ºC (-22F) may be recorded, but snow is scarce because of the dryness.
Springs arrive quickly in August, and a tremendous drought is to be expected. Daytime temperatures may soar to unexpected values very early, only to fall quickly to wintry levels and then recover. Overall, a few days over 40ºC (104F) are to be expected yearly.
Rainfall ranges from over 650 mm in some mountains in the East, to a general 400 mm in semiarid eastern regions, to about 100 mm in the driest spots.
Highest point: Nevada Ojos del Salado (Salt Springs Peak) 6908 meters.
Read more about this topic: Catamarca Province
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“If often he was wrong and at times absurd,
To us he is no more a person
Now but a whole climate of opinion.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“Nobody is so constituted as to be able to live everywhere and anywhere; and he who has great duties to perform, which lay claim to all his strength, has, in this respect, a very limited choice. The influence of climate upon the bodily functions ... extends so far, that a blunder in the choice of locality and climate is able not only to alienate a man from his actual duty, but also to withhold it from him altogether, so that he never even comes face to face with it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)