The Climate

                                        The Climate

Mid-winter corn drying

   Since we arrived nine months ago the Peruvian weather has puzzled me.  The weather does not match our latitude of 20 degrees south.  The winter and early spring in Lima has been one long morning drizzle with foggy afternoons.  Even with the drizzle the western slope of Andean foothills is bone dry with absolutely no vegetation.

   Our trips along the Pacific Ocean and into the Andes just added to the enigma.  Several months ago, during the middle of winter, I could see corn in all stages of growth. Some had recently been harvested and was drying on the Peruvian landscape.  During our September trip across the Andes and into the mountain highlands Annuals were still blooming at 10,000 feet.  Even today in the early spring crops are being harvested as other crops are being planted. 

   I have learned the three major factors that control the South American weather.  The Humboldt Current dominates the climate of the Pacific side of Peru. A deep 16,000-foot ocean trench sweeps cold Antarctic seawater north along the Chilean and Peruvian coast.   The cold ocean water keeps rainfall to a minimum, and the driest desert in the world is located in Southern Peru. So, Lima at 20 degrees south has a very mild desert like climate.  The Humboldt produces are winter and spring morning drizzle and the deserts climate along the Pacific coast.

   The high Andes are the second factor.  As you drive east from the Pacific there is a narrow band of coast line, it soon gives way to steep narrow mountains roads.  The Andes has peaks as height as 21,000 feet, with high dry plateaus.   In many areas of Peru the Andes are less than 50 miles from the Pacific.  However, the weather systems migrate from East to West and the large winter snow mass only collect in very higher altitudes. 

   The Amazon Basin is the third factor.  The warm wet air mass generated in the Amazon Jungle is pushed eastward into the high mountains.  The snow pack then melts and drains east and west.  But the Andes are to high for the moist are to get over. 

   These three factors produce a unique climate that is able to produce an amazing variety of fruits, and vegetables found only in this part of the world. This special Peruvian climate supports a large population while keeping the people healthy in a mild climate. The variety of fruits here is absolutely amazing and we see trucks laden with produce making their deliveries throughout Lima every day.

   

No rain, no erosion. The Nasca Lines are a Peruvian mystery.  This Hummingbird pictograph picture was taken from an airplane and can only been appreciated from 3,000 feet looking down. It is a national symbol.   

Some of the produce