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The snowpack in the central Andes (30°–37°S) is the primary source for streamflow in central Chile and central-western Argentina, but few published studies are available on snowpack variability in the region. This paper develops the first regional snowpack series (1951–2005) from Chilean and Argentinean snow course records. This series shows a strong regional signal, marked interannual variability, and a positive, though nonsignificant, linear trend. Correlations with local precipitation and temperature records reveal a marked association with conditions in central Chile. High snow accumulation is generally concurrent with El Niño events in the tropical Pacific, but only 5 of the 10 driest years coincided with La Niña events. Evaluation of 500-hPa geopotential height anomaly maps during extreme snow years highlights the crucial significance of tropospheric conditions in the subtropical and southeast Pacific in modulating snowfall. Correlations with gridded SST and SLP data and multiple regressions with large-scale climatic indices corroborate a Pacific ENSO-related influence largely concentrated during the austral winter months. This hampers the predictability of snowpack before the onset of the cold season. Annual and warm-season river discharges on both sides of the cordillera are significantly correlated with the regional snowpack record and show positive linear trends over the 1951–2004 common period, probably related to a greater frequency of above-average snowpacks during recent decades. Future demand and competition for water resources in these highly populated regions will require detailed information about temporal and spatial variations in snow accumulation over the Andes. The results indicate that the relationships between snowpack and atmospheric circulation patterns prior to the winter season are complex, and more detailed analyses are necessary to improve prediction of winter snowfall totals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interannual-to-multidecadal variability of central-west Argentina (CWA) summer (October-March) precipitation and associated tropospheric circulation are studied in the period 1900-2010. Precipitation shows significant quasi cycles with periods of about 2, 4-5, 6-8, and 16-22 yr. The quasi-bidecadal oscillation is significant from the early 1910s until the mid-1970s and is present in pressure time series over the southwestern South Atlantic. According to the lower-frequency spectral variation, a prolonged wet spell is observed from 1973 to the early 2000s. The precipitation variability shows a reversal trend since then. In that wet epoch, the regionally averaged precipitation has been increased about 24%%. The lower-frequency spectral variation is attributed to the climate shift of 1976/77. From the early twentieth century until the mid-1970s, the precipitation variability is associated with barotropic quasi-stationary wave (QSW) propagation from the tropical southern Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, generating vertical motion and moisture anomalies at middle-to-subtropical latitudes east of the Andes over southern South America. The QSW propagation could be related to anomalous convection partly induced by tropical anomalous SSTs in the western Indian Ocean (WIO). It could also be linked to another midlatitude source along the storm tracks, to the east of New Zealand. After 1976/77, the precipitation variability is associated with equatorial symmetric circulation anomalies linked to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like warmer conditions. Positive moisture anomalies are consistently observed at lower latitudes in association with inflation of the western flank of the South Atlantic anticyclone. Outside of this, the precipitation variability is unrelated to ENSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note, changes in temperature extremes over a 40-yr period are analyzed, based on daily minimum and maximum temperatures over Argentina. Trend analysis was performed on seasonal means, standard deviations, and extremes (5th and 95th percentiles) over the 1959–98 period. The strongest (positive) changes over time occurred in mean summer minimum temperature, whereas the standard deviation decreased. Mean maximum temperatures mostly decrease over time in summer over northern Argentina, but they increase in Patagonia (southern Argentina). Generally, negative trends were obtained in the number of cold nights and warm days per summer, while the number of warm nights and cold days has increased at certain locations. Patagonia shows many stations with an increasing number of warm days and nights in winter and a decreasing number of cold days and nights in summer. The summer mean temperature is more sensitive to extremes than the winter one. In summer, the increase in mean temperature is more strongly related to the increase in the number of warm days and nights than to a decrease in the number of cold days and nights. In winter, the region with the highest correlation was found in Patagonia, while in the most productive area (La Pampa, Argentina), very little or nonsignificant association exists between mean temperature and the occurrence of warm or cold days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the extraordinary snowfall in Buenos Aires, Argentina in July 2007. It is stated that the snow covered the ground of the city during the early period of the month. According to the author, the city's last recorded snowfall was in 1973 while the first time that snow had blanketed the city occurred in 1918. Héctor Ciappesoni, vice president of the Argentina Meteorology Center, denotes that the incident coincided with the unusual frigid arctic conditions in South America having low temperatures, freezing rain and other wintry weather. He adds that such event caused more than 100 deaths, disrupted transportation and strained energy supplies across the continent.