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
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“There is much to be said against the climate on the coast of British Columbia and Alaska; yet, I believe that the scenery of one good day will compensate the tourists who will go there in increasing numbers.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us—that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditions—they enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)