
What is the weather like in Peru? Three major divisions in weather - coastal desert, mountains, jungle.
It is said that Peru has 28 types of weather. Why so many?
Because
of its extremes of geographical features, it's really next to
impossible to accurately categorize the weather in this country in
fewer types than that.
In
very, very
general terms, you might say the climate is temperate
or mild;
that is, no major rain or snow in the winter and not too hot in summer.
For example, this would
be the case in the
capital city, Lima
, where in summer the average temperature is 25° C (upper 70s F), and winter days are
characterized by gray, damp and cloudy, with temperatures between 12° C and 15° C (the mid 50s F).
That's in Lima
, however, which sits approximately in the middle of the north/south
coastal strip of Peru, and only represents one of the 28 types of weather regions.
For example:
A short distance to the east is the Andes Mountains range, where
temperatures obviously drop as one climbs thousands of feet in a few
miles. Then continuing east, not that much further as the condor flies,
the temps
rise quickly, along with the rainfall, as you drop down to the jungle,
once again at near sea level.
Peru is located in the tropics. It should be hot and
tropical, right?
Well...yes and no.
Peru, stretching from north of the Equator to only 18 degrees southern
latitude, falls totally within the tropics.
But
not all is as it seems on the coast of Peru. Its nothernmost coastal
department (state), Tumbes, is within 4 degrees of the Equator and
is hot, tropical, and has heavy rains part of the year.
But
from there south, the scenery rapidly changes to dry subtropical desert
and temperatures cooling (see Lima, above) as you go farther and
farther south.
Interestingly, Tacna, one
of the most southern of Peru's cities,
is only 18 degrees from the Equator, closer than either Havana, Cuba,
or Cancun, Mexico; Peru weather at sea level in Tacna, however, is
temperate and dry.
But yes, on the
eastern side of the Andes, hot, wet, wonderful (for
plants, animals, and some humans) tropical weather is found right down
the line.
The variety in climate is reflected in the way Peruvians dress, their
local methods of transportaion, and their food. Construction of their
dwellings varies also, with notable differences between desert,
mountain, and tropical building.
There are three climatic areas that correspond to the three geographical areas of Peru:
In the mountains and jungle rains begin in December and end in April.
Peru is in the southern hemisphere, so the "seasons" in Peru are: * Summer: from December 22 to March 21.
That being said, Peru is
so close to the Equator that changes of seasons are not
noted so much by temperature change as they are by rainfall changes and
changes in the ocean temperature on the coast.
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