Precipitation in November: is it normal for rain to continue in spring?

Over the past few days, different weather panoramas have been observed across the country, completely different. In the south, there were alerts precipitation while in the north they have events high temperatures where even in the mountainous areas of the Arica and Parinacota region, electrical storms took place.

One of the most striking cases occurred in the municipalities of the eastern sector of the Metropolitan Region, where last week hail, snow, rain and thunderstorms fell, then, a few hours later , a radiant sun that amazed people.

Although one might think that precipitation will be left behind, Showers are forecast to continue through November and December. something that has not been characteristic in recent years in spring, especially in the central area of ​​the country.

Due to the low rainfall and climate change that have hit Chile in recent years, people already considered the spring heat to be normal. Rains are historically present in November .

Although spring temperatures have increased in recent years, This 2023 was not like that, Therefore, people still cannot completely put away their winter clothes, due to the cold and precipitation that has continued during these months.

Among other reasons, as meteorologist Gonzalo Espinosa Doggenweiler points out at La Tercera, is the known El Niño phenomenon which raises the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, which creates greater atmospheric instability producing precipitation until this month.

There Chile Meteorological Directorate (DMC), had already announced that between In September, October and November there would be more precipitation than usual since he mentions that he would fluctuate between normal and above normal ranges, i.e. between 17 and 48 mm in the central area .

Further precipitation has already been announced due to the instability caused by an altitude trough, which will affect the central area during the weekend . This will bring showers, thunderstorms and some possibility of hail to the foothills and mountain ranges of the affected areas.

These could leave between 15 and 25 millimeters of rain in some affected areas. especially near mountain ranges, while near the coast precipitation decreases.

After that, according to meteorologist Espinosa, Temperatures would start to rise significantly in the coming days leaving the precipitation behind.

According to the portal Weatherized during this month, there would be positive anomalies in the south of the country , between the regions of Biobío and Aysén. That is why there would be above normal precipitation . It would be quite different in the far south, where they would be below average.

According to data provided by Espinosa, In a normal November, in Talcahuano, 21.8 millimeters would fall, a figure that could exceed that of 2023. , according to what Meteored mentions. However, in Punta Arenas the monthly average is 25.97 mm, and until now it would not exceed 4 mm.

According to DMC precipitation forecast for December it is expected that by the end of the year it does not rain much, since a large part of the national territory does not have showers .

In the southern area, there would be values ​​below normal during the month of December from Talca to Puerto Montt, in the Aysén region, while in Magellan, there would be showers above normal .

Weatherized adds that high temperatures will be concentrated from Arica to Atacama while the rest of the country would gradually return to its normal climatological values.

As Gonzalo Espinosa points out, It is normal that in spring there is instability However, there is an increase in the temperature of the Pacific between 1° and 2° C due to the El Niño phenomenon, which makes the oscillation more intense than normal something we will see even in summer.

He emphasizes that people will have to get used to this phenomenon, since it will be present until next year, the weather conditions will therefore be more intense . As mentioned by the United States Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), there is a 50% chance that El Niño will continue until July 2024.

A few weeks before, the meteorologist Espinosa had already mentioned to La Tercera that there would be different phenomena this spring, emphasizing that There would be high temperatures, increased wind intensity, storm surges and there would even be an increased possibility of wildfires in the coming months.