Corrientes Province - Geography and Climate

Geography and Climate

As part of the subtropical area of Mesopotamia, the province has heavy rains and high temperatures with little daily and seasonal variation specially in the North, and no dry season. The Southern part of the province presents some signs of the neighbouring more temperate weather of the Pampas.

Summers throughout Corrientes are hot and humid: daily high temperatures in January average 33°C (91F) and nighttime lows around 21°C (70F). Thunderstorms are very common, and are often accompanied by lots of lightning and strong winds. Temperatures reach the 30°C (86F) mark daily until late March or early April in the north, and by mid April, the northern regions average 26°C (79F) during the day, and 17°C (63F) at night, whereas further south the averages are 25°C (77F) and 14°C (57F). It is during the winter that the distinctions between the northern part and the southern part become more clear: in Corrientes city (northwest), midwinter averages remain very mild, with highs of 20°C (68F) and lows of 11°C (52F). Light morning frost happens sporadically. In Curuzú Cuatiá, further south, temperatures are markedly cooler: the average high temperature is 18°C (64F) and the average low temperature is 7°C (45F), with frost to be expected several times every winter. The weather in the north feels summer-like in October, with highs of 28°C (82F), whereas the spring season lags roughly one month behind in the south. Rainfall is higher in the fall and late spring, but remains high throughout the summer, and has a short, dryer spell in midwinter. The average ranges from 1,200 mm in the south to 1,800 mm in the extreme northeast.

Corrientes is surrounded by two rivers, the Uruguay River to the east, and the Paraná River to the northwest, that contour the shape of the province. The low shore of the Paraná produces frequent floodings. After the specially destructive one in 1982, a protective system has been started with the construction of barriers.

The province is for the most part a plain, with the highest points in the east. To the west, a series of descending platforms go down to the Paraná River. The Iberá Wetlands, an area of lagoons and swamps, is a vast depression from volcanic flow, covered later with fluvial and eolic sediments.