Valdivia - Climate

Climate

Valdivia has a temperate rainy climate with mediterranean influences. In short Valdivia features an oceanic climate with a distinct drying trend during the summer. A similar climate is found on the windward side of the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The natural vegetation is the Valdivian temperate rainforests.

During the summer months (December, January and February) the average temperature is about 17 °C (62.2 °F), while in winter the temperature descends to 8.5 °C (47.3 °F). The annual average temperature for Los Ríos Region is 11 °C (51.8 °F), while the mean temperature amplitude is 8.8 °C (47.8 °F) and the daily is 11 °C (51.8 °F). Average annual precipitation is 2,500 millimetres (100 in), distributed through the year, but primarily between March and October. Hail occurs with some frequency during winter, but snow falls rarely. The last times it snowed in Valdivia were in July 2007 and in August 1995 during the so-called Terremoto Blanco (Spanish for White Earthquake). The Seven Lakes in the interior help to keep an average relative humidity of 80% for the region as whole and there are no months with less than 75% average humidity. The precipitation is generated by frontal systems that cross the zone, which produce cloudiness and few clear days. The leeward effect of the Valdivian Coast Range is minimal due to its low height (715 m at Cerro Oncol) and the gap in the range at Valdivia River's outflow to the Pacific Ocean. Recent climate change have caused precipitations to drop in Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos Regions during the period from 1961 to 2000 with the highest decrease, of -15 mm a−1, being registered around Valdivia.