11 Jan 2010
Weather summary in Punta Arenas 2009
According to observations and records of the weather station Jorge C. Schythe the Patagonian Institute of the University of Magallanes, representing atmospheric conditions in the area of the city of Punta Arenas, in 2009 just ended, rainfall reached 498 mm, 23.5 mm which precipitatedas water, snow and 19.7 mm (19.7 inch equivalent) did as snow, and the remaining 481.4 mm precipitated in the form of water. The vast majority of these rain showers fell in many low intensity and occurred in 172 days a year. The most important was the precipitation that occurred on 2 April, peaking at 31.8 mm in 24 hours. Nivosa precipitation occurred during the months of May, June and July.
The wettest month was April with a total of 124.5 mm, representing a record for this month, which has only been exceeded in 1937 and 1845. The driest month was December 2009 with just 6.8 mm. Importantly, compared with a normal year, which is 440.2 mm, the amount reached in 2009 is higher by 57.8 mm, equivalent precipitation almost two months. According to the historical annual precipitation amounts reached in the area of the city, the 2009 is defined as a wet year. It should be noted that, although rainfall in recent years are above the average since 2006 has been observed a decrease of these.
Regarding temperature, the average for 2009 came to 6.4 ° C, value at 0.1 ° C below the normal average for the city. The warmest months were January, February and December after averaging 11.1 ° C, 10.2 ° C and 10 º C respectively, while the coldest months were July and August averaging 2.8 ° C and 3.0 ° C respectively. Importantly, while the spring months showed substantial drops in temperature, which influenced the low annual average, the winter months were above normal averages. The maximum temperature reached in the year was 25.0 ° C and was recorded on 09 March at 14:30 hours, while the lowest was the 7.1 ° C below zero on July 29 at 07:00 hours.
Other records of interest were:
The annual average wind, which reached to 21.0 kph, average had its peak in October, reaching 27.3 Km / h. The maximum gust came to 129.7 km / h on June 23 at 21:25 pm, heading west.Other months with high average wind were January, February, November and December.
During the year saw a total of 1828 hours of sun, cloud cover had an average of 6.0 eighths of sky covered by clouds. The annual average relative humidity was 75% and evaporation reached at 1139.2 mm.
Comment.
The city of Punta Arenas has presented a thermal behavior within the normal range for this parameter during 2009, although it is noted that the months of October, November and December showed lower averages compared to historical averages. The most particular case was November it recorded the lowest average temperature for the month since 1908 (5.4 º C), the value reached 5.6 º C is lower by 3.1 º C above the historic average for this month (8.7 º C).The month of October presented as a drop in average with a value of 5.5 º C compared to a historical average of 6.8 º C.
In contrast to these low averages highlight the high averages of the winter months, which significantly increased the total evaporation and helped halt the decline in annual temperature.While the maximum temperature of 25 º C registered on March 9, corresponding to a historical record for the month, not so for the summer season, which emphasizes the historical value of 29.9 º C recorded in January 1900 .
In terms of precipitation, April notable for being the third largest for the month since records began to Punta Arenas. This month had the highest average relative humidity because of this.
It is noteworthy that during these years is occurring phenomena such as ENSO (child) who brings an increase in rainfall and the girl who is the opposite ie a decrease of the same. These phenomena in the region suffer a performance gap with Central Chile, for these arise in the equatorial Pacific.
