Fig. 105—Monthly cloudiness of Santa Lucia from January to July, 1914. Mean cloudiness for the whole period is also shown.
The following abstracts are selected because they give some important features of the weather not included in the preceding tables and graphs. Of special interest are the strong contrasts between the comparatively high temperatures of midday and the sudden “tempests” accompanied by rain or hail that follow the strong convectional movements dependent upon rapid and unequal heating. The furious winds drive the particles of hail like shot. It is sometimes impossible to face them and the pack train must be halted until the storm has passed. Frequently they leave the ground white with hailstones. We encountered one after another of these “tempestades” on the divide between Lambrama and Antabamba in 1911. They are among the most impetuous little storms I have ever experienced. The longest of them raged on the divide from two-o’clock until dark, though in the valleys the sun was shining. Fortunately, in this latitude they do not turn into heavy snowstorms as in the Cordillera of northwestern Argentina, where the passes are now and then blocked for weeks at a time and loss of human life is no infrequent occurrence.[35] They do, however, drive the shepherds down from the highest slopes to the mid-valley pastures and make travel uncomfortable if not unsafe.
ABSTRACT FROM DAILY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS, SANTA LUCIA, 1913-14
NOVEMBER
“Tempest” recorded 11 times, distant thunder and lightning 9 times. Unusual weather records: “clear sky, scorching sun, good weather” (Nov. 29); “morning sky without a single cloud, weather agreeable” (Nov. 30).
DECEMBER
Clear morning sky 6 times. Starry night or part of night 7 times. Beginning of rain and strong wind frequently observed at 5-6 P.M. “Tempest” mentioned 19 times—5 times at midnight, 8 times at 5-6 P.M.
JANUARY
Clear morning sky 5 times. Starry night 3 times. Rain, actual or threatening, characteristic of afternoons. “Tempest,” generally about 5-6 P.M., 7 times. Sun described 4 times as scorching and, when without wind, heat as stifling. Weather once “agreeable.”