Acatlan, Mexico (climate, snow, hot, warm)

[§AB]

Browsing the UK weather forums, I came across an interesting thread by the name of "extremes by continent" which they post for each month.

viewing these threads, I was shocked to see a place in Mexico called Acatlan record a temp of 41C / 104F in JANUARY!!! Other Mexico towns which seem to record extreme winter temps are Santiago Chivela with 40.5C in December. Considering that the towns in question lie at around 20º north of the equator, how are temps like this possible ?

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by §AB

Browsing the UK weather forums, I came across an interesting thread by the name of "extremes by continent" which they post for each month.

viewing these threads, I was shocked to see a place in Mexico called Acatlan record a temp of 41C / 104F in JANUARY!!! Other Mexico towns which seem to record extreme winter temps are Santiago Chivela with 40.5C in December. Considering that the towns in question lie at around 20º north of the equator, how are temps like this possible ?

They're "lucky?"

[§AB]

Something has to give, temps like this in winter are completely outragous for places at the 20th parallel. Even the most notorious hot spots in the middle east and sub-saharan Africa have trouble achieving such insane "winter" heat....

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by §AB

Something has to give, temps like this in winter are completely outragous for places at the 20th parallel. Even the most notorious hot spots in the middle east and sub-saharan Africa have trouble achieving such insane "winter" heat....

It could be a similar effect like the Santa Ana's in SoCal, where it can be 95 F (35 C) in the middle of winter... perhaps as close as 20 km away from the Pacific (over a few hills or small mountain ranges )

Los Angeles is what, 34.5 degrees north?
If this part of Mexico can get the same effect as the Santa Ana's,
then 41 C does not surprise me.

Heck, I hear even Death Valley at 36-37 degrees north can (theoretically) hit 100 F (38 C) mid-winter.

[ColdCanadian]

Strictly speaking in terms "climate,"
I could see myself feeling "quite at home" in somewhere like central-to-southern, lower altitude Mexico.

[§AB]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

It could be a similar effect like the Santa Ana's in SoCal, where it can be 95 F (35 C) in the middle of winter... perhaps as close as 20 km away from the Pacific (over a few hills or small mountain ranges )

Los Angeles is what, 34.5 degrees north?
If this part of Mexico can get the same effect as the Santa Ana's,
then 41 C does not surprise me.

Heck, I hear even Death Valley at 36-37 degrees north can (theoretically) hit 100 F (38 C) mid-winter.

Basically it must be some form of compressional heating a la the Santa Anas. The area is pretty mountainous with I assume numerous valleys so such a phenomenon should be quite common I guess?

I certainly wouldnt mind living in a place where it gets to 40C in the middle of winter

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by §AB

I certainly wouldnt mind living in a place where it gets to 40C in the middle of winter

Nor would I.

I've actually had dreams where we've already got maybe 15 cm (6 inches) of heavy snow on the ground,
but a powerfull warmfront comes through...
so powerfull, it's best described as a "flash-heatwave"
and the snow doesn't have time to melt;
it turns straight into steam right before your eyes...
The snowbanks near the roads curb sizzles
like it would if tossed into a frying pan.

[§AB]

I once dreamt that Melbourne got really hot days of 45C or more, upon waking up I was annoyed (and it was winter) then figured 'yeah not possible'...............then it actually happened