Record cold grips Argentina, Chile and Uruguay
The three countries in South America have all recorded high temperatures than zero while the polar air came from Antarctica and swept the region.
A mass of polar air has brought low record temperatures to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, causing at least 15 deaths and forcing governments to restrict gas supply and activate emergency shelters.
The three countries in South America have all recorded high temperatures than zero while the polar air came from Antarctica and swept the region.
In Argentina, at least nine homeless people died cold this winter, according to the NGO Proyecto 7.
The capital Buenos Aires has recorded its lowest temperature since 1991 to -1.9 degrees Celsius (28.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, while the Coastal City of Miramar saw the snow for the first time in 34 years. Further south, the city of Maquinchao recorded -18c on Tuesday.
The request for electricity caused discounts on Buenos Aires, leaving thousands of people without electricity for more than 24 hours in certain regions.
The government has suspended gas supplies to industries and service stations on Wednesday to ensure household supplies and withdrew price controls on gas cylinders on Thursday.
Desert snow
Uruguay declared a “red alert” nationally after the death of six people, allowing the government of President Yamandu Orsi to force the homeless in shelters.
Montevideo has recorded its lowest maximum temperature since 1967 to 5.8 ° C on June 30, according to meteorologist Mario Bidegain.
Chile has also activated homeless shelters for the coldest days. The city of Chillan, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Santiago, struck -9.3 ° C, according to the Chilean meteorological direction.
“What happened this week in Chile and the southern cone in general is a cold wave caused by an escape from a mass of polar air in Antarctica,” AFP Raul Cordero told the University of Santiago.
The snow even fell into certain parts of the Atacama desert, the driest in the world, for the first time in a decade.
“It is not so common that these cold air masses extend so far to the north, so we cannot exclude that this is also caused by climate change,” the meteorologist Arnaldo Zuniga told AFP.
The region expects relief in the coming days, Buenos Aires reaching 12C Thursday, Montevideo 14c and Santiago 24.7c.
“I was quite surprised by the change of cold cold – the change was very drastic,” said student Dafne Naranjo, 18, in Santiago.
Climatologist Cordero has said that heat waves have become more frequent than cold spells in recent years.
“The frequency of heat waves has tripled, whether in summer or winter, not only in the southern cone, but around the world,” he said.
© 2025 AFP
Quote: Save the cold handles of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (2025, July 4) recovered on July 5, 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2025-07-cold-argentina-chile-uruguay.html
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