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Weather and Climate of Latin America
Topics:
• Latitude and altitude zones • Orographic effects• Ocean currents • Wind and pressure patterns• Precipitation patterns• Hurricanes• Hurricane Mitch
Latitudinal Zones
Altitudinal zonation
Temperature drops 3.5 degrees (F) for every 1000 ft gain in elevation
In each elevation zone, Climate, vegetation, agriculture, lifestyles vary
Tierra Nevada (permanent snow and ice)No permanent human occupants
– When some snow/ice melt, keeps water reserves high
– Rodents, small carnivores, condor
Tierra Helada 12000 – 1 5 000 ft.“páramo” in northern Andes; “puna” in
Andes of Peru and Bolivia– Mining, herding of sheep, llamas,
alpacas– Deer, vicuña, guanaco
Tierra Fria: 6000 – 12000 ft.
Lower elevations: maize and beans;
higher elevations: tubers
Sheep herding, wheat. barley, broad beans, alfalfa, fruit trees, dairy cows
Major population centers: Bogotá, Quito, La Paz, Sucre, Cuzco
Tierra Templada 2500 – 6000 ft.
– Absence of frost
– Coffee and cacao
– Sugar cane, citrus, cotton, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, maize
Tierra Caliente (sea level to 2500 ft.)
– Year-round high temps
– High diversity; disease and pest problems
– Cacoa, manioc (cassava), sweet potatoes, peanuts
Orographic Effect
• Mountains force air to lift, cooling temperatures, forcing cloud and precipitation formation
• Windward side of mountain is wet
• Lee side of mountain is in rainshadow (dry)
• Patagonian desert is in rainshadow of southern Andes
examples:
• Puerto Rico– Windward side :
San Juan : – 60 “ annually
– Leeward side : Ponce: 36 “
• Buenaventura, Colombia (windward):
394 cm
• Cali, Colombia (leeward) :
97 cm
Ocean Currents
• Currents affect temperatures of coastal landmasses
• Currents affect humidity of coastal landmasses – (cold currents: dry; warm currents: wet)
3 cold currents
• California current– Aridity of
northwestern Mexico
• Falkland/Malvinas current– Cold, arid Patagonia
• Peru (Humboldt) current– El Niño
• Equatorial Counter Current (Pacific)
• Brazil Current
• North Equatorial Current (Atlantic)
• Gulf Stream
4 warm currents
Wind and pressure patterns
Pressure belts:1. Equatorial Low (15°N - 15°S)
– Rising air; warm, wet, cloud cover all year
2. Subtropical Highs (centers 30°N, S)– Descending air, dry, lack of cloud cover– Clockwise circulation in N. Hem,
counterclockwise in S. Hem.
3. Subpolar Lows (centers 55 °N, S)– Rising air, cool, wet
4. Polar High (poles)– Descending dry air
• Belts shift seasonally with subsolar point
– Causing wet and dry seasons
• When equatorial low is present: wet season• When subtropical high is present: dry season
Resulting wet/dry seasons:
• Caribbean, S. Mexico, Central America:– Wet season: May – October (summer)– Dry season: November – April (winter)
• South America:– Central (Brazil, Eastern Bolivia):
• Wet season: November – April (summer)• Dry season: May - October (winter)
Wind patterns
• Winds blow from high to low pressure; clockwise and counterclockwise around highs and lows
• Northeast Tradewinds
• Southeast Tradewinds
• Intertropical Convergence Zone (Doldrums)
• Westerlies
Guajira
Atacama
Patagonia
Hurricanes
Progression:Tropical disturbances– disorganized storms
Tropical depressions23 mph
Tropical Storms39 mph
Hurricanes (Tropical Cyclone) 74 mph
• Originate in tropics over warm oceans– “typhoon”– “baguio”– “cyclone”
• N. Hem: August - September
• S. Hem: January - March
• Eye wall (100 inches/day)
• Very low pressure in center
Forward right flank
• High winds (>120 km / hr)
• Heavy rainfall (25 cm - several meters / day)
• Storm surge
Saffir-Simpson Scale
CATEGORY DAMAGE WINDS STORM SURGE
1 minimal 74 -95mph 4 -5 ft.
2 moderate 96 -110 6 -8 ft.
3 extensive 111-130 9 -12 ft
4 extreme 131 -155 13 -18 ft
5 catastrophic > 155 > 18 ft
Hurricane Mitch 1998at the time, (2nd) most deadly hurricane in western
hemisphere
Hurricane Date Areas Struck Deaths
"The Great Hurricane"
October 10-16, 1780
MartiniqueSt. Eustatius
BarbadosShips
22,000
Hurricane Mitch Oct 26 - Nov 4,
1998
Central America:HondurasNicaragua
11,000+ (3 million homeless)
Galveston, Texas
September 8, 1900
Galveston Island 8,000
Hurricane Fifi September 14 -
19, 1974 Honduras 8,000
Dominican Republic
September 1-6, 1930
Dominican Republic
8,000
Hurricane Flora Sep 30, 1963 - Oct 8, 1963
HaitiCuba
7,200
Martinique September 6,
1776 Point Petre Bay 6,000
1864 Calcutta Cyclone, In, 1864dia
Death Toll: 60,000
1922 Swatow Typhoon, China, 1922
Death Toll: 60,000
1882 Bombay cyclone, India, 1882
Death Toll: 100,000
1991 Bangladesh cyclone, 1991
Death Toll: 138,866
Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar, 2008
Death Toll: 140,000
1970 Bhola cyclone, Bangladesh (East Pakistan)
Year: 1970
Death Toll: 500,000
Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876, Bangladesh
Death Toll: 200,000
Super Typhoon Nina, China, 1975
Death Toll: 210,000
1737 Calcutta cyclone, India, 1737
Death Toll: 300,000
1881 Haiphong Typhoon, Vietnam, 1881
Death Toll: 300,000
1839 Indian Cyclone, 1839
Death Toll: 300,000
10-22-98
tropical depression
10-26-98
Category 5; central pressure 905 mb
(sustained 6 hours)
180-200 mph winds
(sustained 15 hours)
44 ‘ waves
10-31-98 inland to Guatemala
Orographic rain (1-2 ‘ per day; total 75 “)
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