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A "wall", the cause of one of the worst winters in Patagonia in 20 years

2020-07-25T11:01:24.085Z


Meteorologists explain that the cause of the heavy snowfall lies in a high-pressure system in northern Argentina that blocks another low-pressure system.


Claudio Andrade

07/25/2020 - 7:01

  • Clarín.com
  • Society

White storms that leave walls of 1.5 meters of snow, temperatures of 37 degrees below zero, winds of 120 kilometers per hour, rain records that triple the measure of the month in hours. There are some of the records of this winter in Patagonia that residents of the cities and inhabitants of the places, consulted by Clarín , remember as the hardest in the last 20 years .

Within this framework, in Neuquén and Río Negro there are cut routes, hundreds of cars and trucks blocked on the roads; In Chubut, 55 high-voltage towers were knocked down by strong and constant winds and the accumulation of frost; and all the region are added localities and places isolated by snow or water .

Experts agree that we went through a few adverse days, but they make a warning: at the end of the season the numbers could reveal that it was a fairly normal winter with some high notes.

“In recent days , a low pressure front was recorded from the Pacific entering the Cordillera and finally heading towards the Atlantic Ocean. But this coincided with a high pressure system in northern Argentina and Brazil that works like a wall and blocks the cold front . That is why the circulation of low temperatures is prolonged a little more, ”explains Cindy Fernández, specialist of the National Weather Service , to Clarín .

The wall to which the meteorologist refers does not allow the low pressure system, responsible for the extreme weather of the week that is leaving, to find its natural outlet to the ocean .

The high voltage towers toppled in Chubut. / Telam

The expert also remembers that after a pleasant autumn, in July temperatures fell to 4 degrees below the average of previous years. The phenomenon impacted the "skin" of people who arrived in the freezing cold season accustomed to a kinder time.

“It can be said that winter started with interesting snowfalls, but it is not a particularly atypical winter in the Cordillera either. The quarterly forecasts indicated that this was going to be a winter in everything normal, "continues the meteorologist. “In recent years there has been a deficit of snowfall in the area . We know that in the 80s and 90s the snowfall was much stronger. What has happened so far does not mean that rainfall will continue until reaching these historical levels ”, details the expert.

"There are other snowfalls with rains for the weekend and at the end of July and the beginning of August cold air with snow could continue to enter the Cordillera ", adds the Patagonian meteorologist Fernando Frasetto. "There is snow but we need it to continue snowing and to continue raining to make it be an exceptional year, lack to make it an extraordinary year ," he says. "This wall prevents the low pressure system from continuing to advance and the cold prevails, it makes these conditions more extensive, but in a few days it could change. After all, they are normal conditions in Patagonia ”, he concludes.

For next week temperatures of up to 6 degrees below zero are expected in the Bariloche area and up to 11 degrees below zero on the South Line. There will be moderate winds and rain in the Cordillerana region.  

Fernández makes a more subtle analysis of the issue and introduces an element of psychology to explain the feelings that winter has been leaving. The coronavirus pandemic does not escape its balance.

“The quarantine prevented people from reaching the winter centers as usual. The snow was accumulating in a different way in the bases and other virgin spaces. There was no one to pass it by. This also affects people's eyes regarding winter. There is an element of perception of reality that has changed, ”says the specialist. "It does not mean that there was no cold, but we saw winter differently ," he explains.

Cerro Catedral, covered in snow.

Meanwhile in the hills the snow accumulates partly due to the precipitations of the last two weeks and also due to the low density of skiers. About 40 centimeters are recorded at the bases and around 2 meters at the summits.

These periods of intense snow have surprised young people who live in towns and places near the mountains or on the plateau. Between Monday and Thursday the Río Negro police reported the rescue of two young people in rural areas. One of them went for a walk outside Pilcaniyeu (65 kilometers from Bariloche) and was rescued a day later. Another, a field worker, tried to make a short ride on horseback between two places in Comallo (112 kilometers from Bariloche) and was also disoriented by the endless white cape that stretched before his eyes. He was found, after an intense search by the authorities, in an abandoned post two days later. None of them had great experience with these large volumes of snow, they indicated in the area.

Bariloche. Correspondent

ACE

Source: clarin

All life articles on 2020-07-25

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