The traveller arriving in Buenos Aires should remember that in the southern hemisphere the seasons are the opposite of what they are in the northern hemisphere. Generally, the summer, with its mild climate and long hours of daylight, is the most favourable time to visit Patagonia and the southern Andes.

In winter is the best time to visit the north and the northeast. At that time of the year it rains less frequently and the usual tropical temperatures drop a few centigrade. Autumn and spring are great seasons for Buenos Aires, Cuyo, and the Andean foothill Provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca.

The best season that Argentina offers is the one where there is the possibility to enjoy two summers in one single 12 month period, although, due to the great diversity existing in the country and the length of its territory, any season is a good season. Furthermore, the urban attractions that Buenos Aires can offer do not depend on the time of the year.

BUENOS AIRES

WEATHER AND CLIMATE

The city of Buenos Aires enjoys a warm and benign climate during the whole year. Average mean annual temperatures do not show many extremely hot or cold days, which permits the visitor to walk around the city during all seasons of the year. However, during the months of January through March (the southern hemisphere summer) there might be occasional peaks of temperature allowing for sensations of heat reaching up to 40 ºC (110 ºF).

In the southern hemisphere winter, the coldest month is July, with average temperatures between 3 ºC and 8 ºC, but no subzero temperatures or freezing occurs. But it is still necessary to wear a good woollen overcoat and a scarf. In the summer, the air is hot and humid and average temperature hovers around 28 ºC. (At night temperatures come down a very little so there is no need fro overcoats or such and one can wear light clothing.).

Yearly annual rainfall is 1.146 millimetres. Most frequent rainfalls occur in autumn and spring. They are usually short showers, during the hot months, which do not put a stop to normal activities and allows one to wear light clothing with just a raincoat or an umbrella.

The climate in Buenos Aires shows the visitors it has a few quirks.

One of the most known one, which is already part of urban legend due to its strange characteristics, is "St. John's little summer". The people of Buenos Aires called it that since it always appears on and around midsummer (here the winter solstice), i.e. June 24th, which the Catholic Church considers to be John the Baptist's birthday. This rare phenomena, which lasts between three days to a week, temperatures will sometime reach 24ºC, and one can see people sunning in the plazas of the city in plain winter.

At the end of the cold season there is another curiosity: "the Santa Rosa storm", a cycle of rains and thunderstorms that mark the start of the Buenos Aires spring and which coincide with the festivity of this Saint, which falls on August 30th.

Yet another, even stranger case took place in the Buenos Aires winter of 1918, when the only snowstorm that the city has ever registered covered it in white.

THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR

Spring: September 21st to December 21st. Average temperature: 17ºC (64ºF).
Summer: December 21st to March 21st. Average temperature: 23ºC (76ºF).
Autumn: March 21st to July 21st. Average temperature: 18ºC (66ºF).
Winter: July 21st. to September 21st. Average temperature: 5ºC (40ºF).

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