| Río Cuarto | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
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Río Cuarto
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Argentina |
| Province | Córdoba |
| Department | Río Cuarto |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Juan Jure (Civic and Social Front) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 144,021 |
| Time zone | ART (UTC-3) |
| CPA base | X5800 |
| Dialing code | +54 358 |
Río Cuarto is a city in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Located in the south of the province, it has about 144,000 inhabitants (2001 census [INDEC]) and is an important commercial and agricultural hub. It was founded on November 11, 1786, as "Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto," by the then-Governor Rafael de Sobremonte.
Río Cuarto River flows through the province of Córdoba; its central location in the Humid Pampas favored the city's development as a transport hub for much of the surrounding agriculture, and numerous abbatoirs and food processing plants opened in Río Cuarto during the twentieth century.
The National University of Río Cuarto, established in 1971, is located here. The city's football teams include Estudiantes and Atenas.
Río Cuarto hosted the International Biology Olympiad in 2006. The Río Cuarto craters, a group of geologically unusual impact craters, are located nearby. The city's UN/LOCODE is ARRCU.
The climate is temperate, typical of the humid Pampas, with four marked seasons. Summers are warm with frequent thunderstorms; however, the heat is often "cut" by periods of southerly winds, so that the average high is a comfortable 29ºC, despite the fact that it can reach 38ºC. Fall arrives slowly in March, and winter arrives in May with the first frosts. During the very dry winters, temperatures vary according to wind patterns: northwesterly, downsloping winds can bring temperatures of 25ºC (but with cool nights) even in midwinter, whereas southerly winds can leave daytime highs around 6ºC. Temperatures descend to -5ºC sometimes, and snow is uncommon, but not extremely so: in 2007, over 15 cm of snow covered the city, and temperatures plummeted to -11ºC, reaching highs of only 0ºC on one occasion. Spring brings violent thunderstorms and wide temperature swings, with heat waves followed by frost or cool periods. On some years, the normal winter drought extends into the spring, posing a threat to agriculture; however, at 846 mm, Rio Cuarto´s climate is generally favourable for crops.
| Climate data for Rio Cuarto | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 29.4 (84.9) |
28.6 (83.5) |
26.0 (78.8) |
22.8 (73.0) |
19.4 (66.9) |
15.6 (60.1) |
15.3 (59.5) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.9 (67.8) |
24.0 (75.2) |
26.6 (79.9) |
28.4 (83.1) |
22.9 (73.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 17.8 (64.0) |
17.1 (62.8) |
14.9 (58.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
8.0 (46.4) |
4.7 (40.5) |
4.2 (39.6) |
5.9 (42.6) |
7.7 (45.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
14.4 (57.9) |
16.8 (62.2) |
11.2 (52.2) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 140 (5.51) |
88 (3.46) |
119 (4.69) |
51 (2.01) |
24 (0.94) |
9 (0.35) |
19 (0.75) |
13 (0.51) |
48 (1.89) |
71 (2.8) |
132 (5.2) |
132 (5.2) |
846 (33.31) |
| Source: Servicio Meteorologico Nacional[1] | |||||||||||||
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