Buenos Aires Vs. Anchorage Alaska

Anchorage Alaska

Buenos Aires Argentina

 

Anchorage vs. Buenos Aires

Anchorage Alaska is classified by the Koppen system as a Dfc (humid high latitude-harsh winters) it is located at 61° N and 150° W, this high latitude significantly changes the climate and climate controls, the suns solar angle or lack of is a distinct macro climate control of high latitudes.  Micro-climate controls such as the plant density is far different than that of South America.  Buenos Aires is classified as an Cfa Koppen climate (Humid subtropical, warm summers and mild winters) and is located about 30° closer to the equator creating much more mid-latitude seasonality and a more direct sun angle throughout the year.  The plants of South America are an important micro-climate control to the region; the plants in South America transpire much more water than that of high latitude plants contributing to a moister climate in Buenos Aires.  The population density of each city is completely different as well creating a more pronounced urban heat island in Buenos Aires metropolitan area. 

Sunlight exposure for Buenos Aires

Sunlight exposure for Anchorage

 

Anchorage is located  on the west side of North America near the cold water Alaskan current and is surrounded by several mountain ranges, the closest being the Chugach Mountains. The proximity to a mountain range creates another meso-climate control and can heavily influence weather patterns the city experiences.  This is very different from Buenos Aires.  Buenos Aires is located on the opposite coast of a continent near a warm water current far from any orographic climate controls.  Anchorage’s weather and climate are heavily influenced by the mountains and ocean, whereas Buenos Aires is primarily affected by the ocean.  There is one similar feature that Buenos Aires and Anchorage share and that is that they lay on coastal lowland with an elevation of around 100 feet above sea level.  This similarity is one of few each location shares.

Climate graph of Anchorage

Climate graph of Buenos Aires

Situated along the Northern Pacific coast at a latitude of 61° N, the city experiences a combined effect of subarctic and maritime climates. However the air masses that converge around Anchorage are arctic and polar, maritime and continental. This places it on the northern edge of the polar front, creating a harsh climate, especially during the winter months.  This is very different from Buenos Aires location and the air masses that converge.  It is safe to say that while Anchorage is in the midst of the winter months that you would want to be in Buenos Aires temperate climate, and because each location is in a different hemisphere it is the perfect opportunity to go on a South American summer vacation!

 Sources

 

http://www.cityphoto.tk/argentina-photos/buenos-aires-photos.html

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=anchorage+alaska&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=665&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=qr8BBAVhVXb6rM:&imgrefurl

http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/u/US70273005002801.php   ttp://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/monthly/99501)

http://www.world-climates.com/city-climate-buenos-aires-argentina-south-america/

 http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7v.html

Climate controls

Buenos Aires is classified as a Cfa koppen climate a temperate climate that is characteristic of the Río de la Plata river coast, this area is a littoral region with several rivers converging into the ocean.   Buenos Aires typically is hot and humid during the December through February, the average high temperature is around  83°F.  Fall and spring are characterized by unpredictable temperatures and sporadic weather systems.  

The fall and winter months range from June to August and are mild and can still be pretty humid.  The average temperature is around  52°F. The average annual temperature is a little higher at 60° F. Frosts do occur in Buenos Aires despite the temperate climate.  Within the city of Buenos Aires snowfall is extremely rare however in 2007 there was a significant snowfall.  This snow was the first significant snowfall in the city in almost 90 years! 

 

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg. Temperature 76 74 72 65 60 53 52 55 58 63 71 76 Avg. Max Temperature 86 84 82 74 69 61 61 65 68 73 81 87 Avg. Min Temperature 68 65 64 58 53 45 45 48 51 56 62 67 Avg. Rain Days 5 5 7 6 4 7 7 6 7 9 5 7 Avg. Snow Days 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  This is a chart of averages based on 8 years of information

Snow in Buenos Aires!

Occasionally Buenos Aires experiences extreme weather patterns that bring flooding, hail, tornadoes, and electrical storms.  The meso-scale climate controls that affect Buenos Aires most significantly are the ocean currents to the east, primarily the Falkland current and Brazilian current.  The large Andes Mountains to the west are extremely high and provide no major protection for Buenos Aires; however they do affect airflows over the continent and can contribute to weather or lack of weather on the East coast where Buenos Aires lays.   The mid-latitude location of Buenos Aires situates the city right around a semi-permanent high pressure that shifts north and south throughout the seasons.  The mid-latitude location of the city make for a very dynamic area for converging warm wet maritime and dry cold polar air masses.   This is very significant to the location of the city.
 

 A mirco-climate factor for Buenos Aires is the urban heat island; temperatures in the city can be on average 8° F warmer.  However sometimes, “The average value of the maximal heat island fell in winter from 4.6°C with light winds and little sky coverage to 3.6°C with windy and cloudy conditions. Strong winds from the city toward rural areas and winds from the river over the city facilitated the occurrence of an inverse heat island (rural area warmer than city).” (1)  The urban heat island information can vary greatly depending on what part of the city the information is derived.  Portions of the interior have more pronounced urban heat temperatures than the coastal or western regions. Another anthropological climate factor is pollution.  Pollution in Buenos Aires comes from mostly cars and some industry.  Since 1950 the amount of cars in Buenos Aires has increase significantly contributing to higher levels of pollution.  During the winter months the city can experience temperature inversions that trap pollution within the city.  This pollution amplifies the greenhouse effect by trapping more heat in the latent heat flux and creates smoggy dreary days during the winter months.

 

 

With Brazil and the densely vegetated Amazon to the north, Buenos Aires experiences a lot of humidity and heat from its northern neighbor.  As Buenos Aires moves into summer months the moist maritime air masses from the north become heavy with moisture from heavy plant transpiration and begin to push south.  The northern air brings large moist tropical air masses from Brazil, the convergence of the extremely wet air masses and the cold polar air masses cause precipitation, sometimes flash flooding.  These moist air masses from the tropical north cause for consistent precipitation throughout the year but more pronounced events in the spring and fall months.    

Authors  Mirta E. Quattrocchio and Ana M. Borromei suggest that “Late Holocene climates show greater variability and they suggest the onset of modern environmental conditions as represented by cool and wet conditions in southern Tierra del Fuego, and by arid to semi-arid conditions in southwestern Buenos Aires Province.” (2)  It seems that Buenos Aires has gone through periods of extreme dry as well as periods of extreme wet. 

Sources

http://www.bastay.com/Buenos-Aires-Weather.html

(1)   1.  http://coaps.fsu.edu/pub/williams/AGC_presentation/Grindin_2009/Figuerola_1998.pdf

(2)   2.  http://palynology.geoscienceworld.org/content/22/1/67.abstract

 

Climate information is also available for the following climate stations in Argentina: http://www.climate-zone.com/climate/argentina/fahrenheit/buenos-aires.htm

Flood http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9e4Nb_FnGSo

snow http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=M654vLP86HE

Tornado http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9EhMwHKamwI

Los Angeles vs. Buenos Aires reflection

Buenos Aires being a coastal climate has very similar weather conditions to Los Angeles, however there are key differences between the two locations that make more distinctly different subtleties in the weather.  Furthermore Buenos Aires can experience extreme low pressure from invasive polar air masses that can create tornadoes, not like Los Angeles that does not experience tornadoes.

Average temperature for Buenos Aires throughout the year

 You can see that Bueno Aires and Los Angeles have nearly identical weather patterns, however they are juxtaposed because the difference in hemispheres.  Notice the mild temperate climates of both locations.

Average temperature for Los Angeles throughout the year

Buenos Aires is located at 34° 37’ South latitude and Los Angeles is located at 33° 56' North latitude, so there are essentially the same distance from the equator, this similarity is one of few each location actually share.  The location from the equator makes for similar mid-latitude locations, battling air masses help to create different seasons.  The other major similarity is each location is on a coast, however Los Angeles is on a west coast near cold water current and Buenos Aires is located on an East coast near warm water current.  The continentality of each location greatly affects the on and off shore winds driven by the differences in ocean temperatures. 

Typical airflow based on continentality and water currents

As the seasons change the sub-polar jets shift and begin to shift from North to South.  Each location is located in a different hemisphere therefore as the Northern sub-polar jet pushes south Los Angeles experiences its fall and “winter” similarly while this is happening the sub-polar jet in the Southern hemisphere pushes south, this is when Buenos Aires begins to experience spring and summer.

A large difference in the locations is Los Angeles is on the west coast of the United States and is exposed to cold air masses pushing over the city creating a marine layer over the city, the cold air settles in while a warm air inversion sits above it trapping smog and pollution. The mountains also are located east of the city helping to trap air along the Los Angeles basin, unlike Buenos Aires where the mountains are located far to the west of the city.

Water currents and the location of them (warm, cold)

 

Buenos Aires is on the east coast of Argentina therefore air pushes over high regions of the Andes Mountains, this helps to dry out the air masses moving over the continent.  As warm continental air reaches the coast there is an off-shore breeze preventing most major inversions of moist maritime air.

Another difference is the annual precipitation that each location experiences, Los Angeles experiences much less annual precipitation than Buenos Aires does because the continental location of each city. 

 Sources

http://airnewzealand.flightoffers.org/about-los-angeles.html

http://www.photographicscience.com/faq.html

http://cubanology.com/Articles/Ocean_Currents_The_Distribution_of_Life.htm

http://gfhcitybeat.areavoices.com/2009/01/03/yes-more-snow/

http://Wunderground.com

Air masses and air movement!

Argentina is located at 34 degrees south latitude in a coastal climate; this creates a Cf climate or temperate coastal climate.  Buenos Aires coastal mid-latitude location helps to create a fairly mild climate, as opposed to large seasonal swings in temperature of the Patagonia region further south.  The location in the southern mid-latitude region is affected by a semi-permanent high pressure system which helps create a mild climate year round.  The east coast warm Brazilian current also helps to regulate a temperate year round.

As the seasons change the air masses migrate north and south, this process helps drive weather patterns especially in the mid-latitudes (unfortunately the animation isnt working for some reason)

 

The battling of cold dry and warm moist air masses can create tornadoes near and around Buenos Aires.  The Andes mountain range is very far west of Buenos Aires and provides little protection from poor weather.  However the Andes are to the west and air is forced to extreme altitudes, this drys the air.  As the air warms and moves across the continent a dry slot of air can form. This continental tropical dry air can move into an area of cooler polar air.  Severe low depressions can happen in the mid-latitude region because of convergence of warm air into cold; this contributes to rising air and intensifies the low pressure in anti-cyclones (southern hemisphere) that can lead to tornados. 

An extreme low depression forming, here comes a tornado!

Because Buenos Aires is located at a mid-latitude in the southern hemisphere the seasons are opposite and cold dry polar air from the south begins to migrate north in around March and April, this is the beginning of the fall season.   As the cold dry air move north into regions of warm, moist, tropical air, this creates higher precipitation, similarly in spring when the warm moist air begins to move south and invade the cold polar air.   As these air masses converge, anti-cyclonic systems form and move across the continent, moving clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

As the seasons begin to change the cold polar airmasses and warm moist tropical maritime airmasses collide and create higher precipitation in spring and fall. 

The beginning of a cyclone.  However this is a model of northern hemisphere air, southern hemisphere model would be opposite direction spinning clockwise around the low

I general diagram of aircells and their latitudes.

Current weather cycle near Buenos Aires, you can see the sub-polar jet stream dipping to the south through patagonia

SOURCES

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7v.html

http://weather.yahoo.com/argentina/autonomous-city-of-buenos-aires/buenos-aires-468739/

http://www.stormchase.com/blog/2009/09/tornado-kills-at-least-15-in-argentina-brazil.html

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cyc/arms.rxml

http://www.geogonline.org.uk/g3a_ki2.1.htm

Basic Weather and Climate of Buenos Aires

 Villa Urqueza  (ICABABUE2) will be the station I use and is located slightly off the coast, inland just west of Buenos Aires airport. 

Aerial view of the coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Geographic reference of the location of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is located on the East coast of South America near the Brazilian current, a warm water current, creating a coastal climate with moderate weather conditions. Buenos Aires is, on average between 30 and 100 ft. above sea level. Buenos Aires is located at 34 degrees South and 54 degrees west, creating a similar temperate climate to Los Angeles.

  Because Buenos Aires is located at a Southern mid-latitude it is a relatively moderate climate near the coastal region. The average summer temperature is typically between 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit with highs reaching upwards of 90-95 Fahrenheit. Winter temperature is fairly moderate ranging from 50-60 Fahrenheit, with occasional days in the 40’s. Buenos Aires experiences most precipitation in March (fall) and October (spring) . The weather patterns of Buenos Aires are driven by the Westerlys and Southeast trades. The descending cool dry air of the Southeast trades creates sub-tropical high around 30 degrees south latitude.


Climograph from

http://www.argentina.climatetemp.info/



Average temperatures and precipitation from

http://www.world-climates.com/city-climate-buenos-aires-argentina-south-america/



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Summer in the Southern Hemisphere



Because Buenos Aires is located in the southern hemisphere the seasons are opposite of the northern hemispheres. Summer in Buenos Aires extends from around November to March.

Sources:

http://www.world-climates.com/city-climate-buenos-aires-argentina-south-america/

http://www.teflcourse.net/tefl-courses-locations/argentina/buenos-aires-map/

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=ICABABUE2&day=15&year=2011&month=10&graphspan=year

http://www.argentina.climatetemp.info/