Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Looking at one of the pics in the Wikipedia article, there's a street with a row of healthy looking Canary Island date palms
With a highest average high of 15 and highest low of 3C, and average lows of 0C or under 4 months of the year I find it hard to believe the picture.
As RWood mentioned, La Paz's altitude ranges over 1,000 metres from 3,200 to 4,200 metres above sea level. Those pics of the Canary Island Date palms were probably taken in the lower areas of the city where it's warmer.
As RWood mentioned, La Paz's altitude ranges over 1,000 metres from 3,200 to 4,200 metres above sea level. Those pics of the Canary Island Date palms were probably taken in the lower areas of the city where it's warmer.
Yes, deneb87's right. And, more precisely, those pics were taken in the neighborhood of Calacoto (acc. to the Wiki article itself). I've done a search of Calacoto on Google Earth and it is located at 3290 m (10,794 ft), on the lower end of La Paz's altitudes. That explains it, I think.
I've been thinking about subtropical highland climates and whether they really should be classified as subtropical. The wiki article states that La Paz is subtropical highland but is this really a misnomer? When I look at the stats, there is nothing subtropical about La Paz any more than there would be about Reykjavik or Torshavn.
Should highland climates in the tropics particularly have a different classification structure all their own which doesn't take into account other climate criteria in use by either Koeppen or Trewartha? I know that many climate maps label mountainous areas as "H" but this doesn't really do justice the differences in elevation that produce different climates.
I've lived there before. It is NOT subtropical AT ALL. It snows in the winter, regularly freezes and is probably the only big city in the world where you can literally be baking on one side from the sun and high altitude and freezing on the other as you walk down the street.
El Alto (above the city proper) is about the closest place to hell that I can imagine too, but the lowest parts of the city (Achumani, Calacoto, ect) is much nicer.
Yes, deneb87's right. And, more precisely, those pics were taken in the neighborhood of Calacoto (acc. to the Wiki article itself). I've done a search of Calacoto on Google Earth and it is located at 3290 m (10,794 ft), on the lower end of La Paz's altitudes. That explains it, I think.
At that altitude, it would still be freaking cold year round. I don't know how the hell these palms would be able to flourish in such a permanently cold climate.
As RWood mentioned, La Paz's altitude ranges over 1,000 metres from 3,200 to 4,200 metres above sea level. Those pics of the Canary Island Date palms were probably taken in the lower areas of the city where it's warmer.
Does the city's elevation really drop over 2000m within its limits?
Does the city's elevation really drop over 2000m within its limits?
Not 2000 meters, but something like 2500 feet (13,300 down to 10,700) The higher elevation is the Altiplano, a very high plateau that basically ends in a cliff that overlooks the city, which is actually nestled in a huge valley, with a really tall mountain rising behind it (like 22,000 feet I think). I visited there on my backpacking tour around South America, and the air was so thin that I flew down to Chile a day early so I could get some...gasp...oxygen...lol. Breathing never felt so good once I landed at sea level after the 30 minute flight from the world's highest commercial airport....lol.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
