By Eric Leister, Meteorologist
August 8,2015; 9:45PM,EDT
The second in a pair of storms will bring welcome rain and mountain snow to Chile into this weekend.
The pair of storms comes after previous light rainfall events over the past two weeks did little to dent the overall drought that has been ongoing for several years.
While any rainfall is beneficial, the upcoming stormy weather that will last through this weekend could provide the most rainfall some parts of central Chile have received in recent years.
While lower elevations receive beneficial rainfall, the Andes will pick up significant snowfall, making for dangerous travel but also boosting the snow pack at the region's many ski resorts.
The latest forecast calls for a total of 25 to 50 mm (1 to 2 inches) of rain in Santiago through Monday with 50 to 100 mm (2 to 4 inches) in neighboring parts of central Chile to the south. This will follow the 62 mm (2.44 inches) of rain that poured down from Wednesday to Thursday.
Significant rain would be beneficial for drought relief, but there could still be some localized flooding in areas that get the heaviest rainfall.
Even the parched Atacama region of northern Chile could get some rainfall into Sunday, which would come only months after rare rains in March caused catastrophic flooding around Antofagasta. While the heaviest rainfall will remain to the south, 12-25 mm (0.50-1.00 inch) of rain could fall in Copiapo. This amount of rainfall would surpass the yearly average for the region which is only 25 mm (1 inch).
@jnmet already start the rain, wind and falling trees
"I would not be surprised if it sprinkled in Arica," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.One place that will again receive significant precipitation from these storms is the Andes.
The mountains between La Serena and Puerto Montt will receive copious amounts of moisture from these systems. Several inches of moisture will produce a meter (3 feet) or more of snow in the highest terrain.
As the final round of rain pushes into Chile, the stormy weather will expand to north-central Argentina and southern Uruguay into early next week.
"This feature will certainly lead to heavy rain around Buenos Aires Sunday into Monday," added Nicholls.
Other areas that could get flooding rainfall include Cordoba, Santa Fe and Rosario.
RELATED:
Santiago Forecast at AccuWeather
Chile Interactive Satellite
AccuWeather Forecast for Concepcion
Santiago will likely settle into a drier pattern following the upcoming rain. This is a trend that is all too familiar across central Chile.
"Santiago hasn't had above-normal yearly rainfall since 2002," according to Accuweather Meteorologist Rob Miller. "Some years were near normal, but Santiago has continued to see rainfall well below average since 2006."
The extended dry weather has prompted some regions of Chile to contemplate water rationing, according to La Tercera. Executives stated that the rationing would depend on how the weather continues over the next month or so, but that some sort of conservation is likely.
No comments:
Post a Comment