Climate
La Serena has a cool desert climate, similar to nearby places in that it is clearly seasonal – in summer there is an absence of precipitation, but with abundant morning cloudiness and drizzles. These dissipate around noon, giving way to clear skies and warm 22 °C (72 °F) days.
In winter the temperatures descend to between 7 and 16 °C (45 and 61 °F). Being located in a coastal zone the minimums and maximums are moderated by the maritime influence and the temperature of the cold Humboldt Current. Winter (specifically in May to August) is the rainy season, with a total rainfall of approximately 100 mm (3.94 in) annually in a normal year, notable exceptions being the year 1997 which experienced a total rainfall in the city near 200 mm (7.87 in), and 1880 when as much as 366 millimetres (14.4 in) fell. The driest year has been 1979 with only 4.5 millimetres (0.18 in), whilst recent years, as in central Chile and Zona Sur, have tended to be drier than the long-term mean.
| Climate data for La Serena | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 21.6 (70.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.2 (64.8) |
17.0 (62.6) |
15.9 (60.6) |
15.4 (59.7) |
15.7 (60.3) |
16.3 (61.3) |
17.5 (63.5) |
18.9 (66.0) |
20.4 (68.7) |
18.23 (64.81) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 17.1 (62.8) |
16.9 (62.4) |
15.6 (60.1) |
13.7 (56.7) |
12.3 (54.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
10.7 (51.3) |
10.9 (51.6) |
11.6 (52.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
14.6 (58.3) |
16.1 (61.0) |
13.61 (56.50) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 13.6 (56.5) |
13.4 (56.1) |
12.4 (54.3) |
10.7 (51.3) |
9.2 (48.6) |
7.6 (45.7) |
7.5 (45.5) |
7.8 (46.0) |
8.7 (47.7) |
9.5 (49.1) |
10.7 (51.3) |
13.0 (55.4) |
10.34 (50.61) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) | 0.1 (0.004) |
0.1 (0.004) |
0.8 (0.031) |
1.7 (0.067) |
17.3 (0.681) |
33.3 (1.311) |
26.2 (1.031) |
17.7 (0.697) |
4.1 (0.161) |
2.1 (0.083) |
0.6 (0.024) |
0.4 (0.016) |
104.4 (4.11) |
| Source #1: Meteorología Interactiva | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Climate Explorer (rainfall; since 1867) | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: La Serena Song Festival
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