Snow Covers Most Of The Country In July 2009

The snow covered much of the country (La nieve cubrió gran parte del país). The polar weather continues for the third day in a row. Today may be registered as the coldest day of the year, the National Meteorology Service reported.

According to the latest report, the Antarctic cold weather will keep on beating until tomorrow.

Source:  Buenos Aires Herald – Friday, July 24, 2009

Question: Not including Antarctica, where is the snowiest place in the Southern Hemisphere?

Answer: Argentina. South America is the only continent in the Southern Hemisphere (other than Antarctica) where an extensive, non mountainous, winter snow cover may occur.

In southern Argentina, snow may accumulate as early as May and as late as October. Each winter, snow is a regular feature south of about 45 degrees latitude, and in the snowiest years, over 1 million square km of snow has been measured – about the size of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah combined.

Snow can fall at locations much further north than expected. It can even lay on the ground for a few days as far north as 27 degrees south latitude. Snow here is usually confined to elevations greater than 1,000 meters, where as much as 30 cm of snow has been observed in southern Brazil.

For those that guessed Australia, or maybe even South Africa, snow in both places is a novelty. New Zealand, due to its more southerly (poleward) location and higher average elevation compared to Australia, has a greater snow cover despite its much smaller size.

Source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center – October 19, 2000