Climate
Santiago del Estero lies in a transition zone between more temperate climates, typical of the Pampa, and the hotter climates of the Chaco region: while daytime highs are decidedly very hot, nights tend to cool down more than most locations in the Chaco. The city is notorious for its very hot summer weather: the average high is 34°C (93F) and 40°C (104F) are attained on a regular basis; the highest temperature on record is 46.4°C (115.5F). Nighttime temperatures are 20°C (68F) in midsummer. There is a very short, wetter season in December and January, with up to 140 mm (5.5 in) monthly; however, this rain falls during a handful of very strong thunderstorms, and so the amount that falls on a given year is extremely variable. Fall is still warm, with average highs of 26°C (79F) in April, and lows of 15°C (59F). Temperatures can still soar to 40°C (104F) in this season. Rainfall is scarce, and becomes practically 0 for 5 months: in August, only 2.4 mm (0.09 inches) are expected. Winters bring very pleasant days (20°C, or 68F) with markedly colder nights (under 6°C, or 43F). Nonetheless, these averages are obtained through an alternance of heat waves and cold waves: short periods of 28°C to 35°C (82F to 95F) are followed by frosty days with highs around 12°C (54F), and sometimes the thermometer fails to reach 8°C (46F). The thermometer does descend below -5°C (23F), and the record low is -13°C (8.6F). Late in the winter, heat waves become much more common, and in September, 40°C (104F) are already possible. The pattern of intense heat waves followed by cool, windy weather is typical of spring, which is also very dry in Santiago. The high temperatures, extreme dryness and high winds create a very dusty environment. In October, the average high is already 31°C (88F), and rainfall only arrives in late November. December is as hot as January, and the abundant rains make the landscape green for a few months. Total precipitation is low, 593 mm (23.3 in), and variable from one year to another.
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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)
“Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear, their table-talk, gossip, controversies, historical sense and scientific training, the values they appreciate, the quality of life they admire. All communities have a culture. It is the climate of their civilization.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)