Balmaceda, Chile

Balmaceda
Balmaceda
Coordinates: 45°54′33″S 71°42′02″W / 45.90917°S 71.70056°WCoordinates: 45°54′33″S 71°42′02″W / 45.90917°S 71.70056°W
Country  Chile
Region Aysén
Province Coyhaique
Municipalidad Coyhaique
Comuna Coyhaique
Balmaceda January 1st, 1917
Government
 • Type Municipalidad
 • Alcade Alejandro Huala Canumán (2012-2016)
Population (2002 census )
 • Total 456
Time zone Chilean Standard (UTC−04:00)
 • Summer (DST) Chilean Daylight (UTC−03:00)
Area code(s) Country + town = 56 + 67

Balmaceda is a Chilean village (Spanish: aldea) located south east of Coyhaique in Aysén Region. Balmaceda has around 500 inhabitants, and has Aysen Regions largest airport and meteorological station; Balmaceda Airport. The first settlers arrived into the zone in early-20th century after being expelled from Argentina since the borders between Chile and Argentina where drawn in 1902. In 1917 Balmaceda was officially founded and was named after the Chilean president José Manuel Balmaceda. Balmaceda was initially one of the largest inland Chilean settlement in what is now the Aisén Region.

Climate

The climate of Balmaceda is an unusual combination of the dry-summer Mediterranean characteristic more typical of Central Chile with the subpolar oceanic characteristics more typical of southern Chile. Uniquely to the region surrounding Lago General Carrera,[1] it has the Köppen classification Csc, with short, though dry summers, and long, snowy though not severe winters. Precipitation, however, is markedly lower than on the coast of Chile owing to the rain shadow of the Andes, being about one-sixth to one-seventh what is received on the coast at the same latitude. Snow is very common during the winter but rarely stays on the ground.[2]

Climate data for Balmaceda
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.5
(90.5)		 30.3
(86.5)		 32.0
(89.6)		 22.9
(73.2)		 23.2
(73.8)		 21.0
(69.8)		 14.0
(57.2)		 23.6
(74.5)		 22.6
(72.7)		 32.2
(90)		 27.2
(81)		 29.5
(85.1)		 32.5
(90.5)
Average high °C (°F) 17.5
(63.5)		 17.7
(63.9)		 15.7
(60.3)		 11.9
(53.4)		 7.8
(46)		 4.3
(39.7)		 3.6
(38.5)		 6.1
(43)		 9.4
(48.9)		 12.6
(54.7)		 14.7
(58.5)		 16.4
(61.5)		 11.5
(52.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 11.9
(53.4)		 11.4
(52.5)		 9.3
(48.7)		 6.5
(43.7)		 3.4
(38.1)		 0.8
(33.4)		 0.2
(32.4)		 1.9
(35.4)		 4.1
(39.4)		 6.7
(44.1)		 9.2
(48.6)		 10.9
(51.6)		 6.4
(43.5)
Average low °C (°F) 6.7
(44.1)		 6.0
(42.8)		 4.5
(40.1)		 2.6
(36.7)		 0.6
(33.1)		 −2.0
(28.4)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 −1.0
(30.2)		 0.1
(32.2)		 2.1
(35.8)		 4.3
(39.7)		 5.8
(42.4)		 2.3
(36.1)
Record low °C (°F) −3.2
(26.2)		 −14.0
(6.8)		 −7.8
(18)		 −11.5
(11.3)		 −14.0
(6.8)		 −15.0
(5)		 −15.0
(5)		 −15.0
(5)		 −14.6
(5.7)		 −9.0
(15.8)		 −5.0
(23)		 −2.8
(27)		 −15.0
(5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 28.1
(1.106)		 20.4
(0.803)		 37.5
(1.476)		 53.6
(2.11)		 92.5
(3.642)		 85.2
(3.354)		 83.5
(3.287)		 72.2
(2.843)		 49.0
(1.929)		 29.6
(1.165)		 28.3
(1.114)		 31.7
(1.248)		 611.6
(24.077)
Avg. precipitation days 8 5 8 10 15 15 15 13 11 9 8 8 125
Avg. snowy days 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.7 8.4 12.1 3.8 3.8 0.3 0.0 0.0 34.1
Average relative humidity (%) 72 74 77 82 86 87 86 83 79 75 72 72 78.8
Mean monthly sunshine hours 310 255 217 180 124 90 124 155 180 248 300 310 2,493
Source #1: Dirección Meteorológica de Chile[3]
Source #2: Información climatológica de estaciones chilenas[4]

References

  1. ↑ World Climate Map
  2. ↑ Balmaceda Airport Snow depths
  3. ↑ "Estadisca Climatologica Tomo III (pg 319-343)" (in Spanish). Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. March 2001. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Datos climatológicos Chile Sur" (in Spanish). Atmosfera.cl. March 2013.