Expat Community > Ecuador

SWIRLZ
Joined 2011
Posts: 474

Weather

10 years ago

Many people seem to be preoccupied with "weather" in Ec and frustrated by the lack of reliable information. I am not a meteorologist but here goes:It's impossible to be specific in a small country with such extreme geographical variations. Ec is the size of Colorado but with the Andes, the Amazon and the Pacific ocean....and oh yeah....the Equator. I believe the term "microclimates" was invented to describe Ec. You can drive the highway along the ocean and see virtual desert and five miles later see jungle. This statement is true virtually everywhere as the keys are altitude and wind/rain patterns created by the mountains.

In Cuenca, the last year or so has been quite dry compared to previous years. The tomebamba has been REAL low at times and quite high at others. Cuenca is in a big valley and your view is very large. I see rain "somewhere" almost every day but maybe, maybe not my house. It may rain for 2 minutes, two hours. It has never been an issue to us.

I have a house in Yunguilla at 5600 feet. It's about 10 degrees warmer than Cuenca and "slightly" dryer but the rains this time of year have been creating mudslides. Yunguilla is a lush fertile area but about 15 miles west it is VERY arid and looks like Arizona. In most mountain areas of Ec you see waterfalls everywhere, and you see water just bubbling up from the ground....yet the need to build small reservoir networks and irrigation canals to direct the water where they need it to grow anything.

As much rain as "supposedly" there is....one of the biggest concerns when buying rural property is access to irrigation water. One of the big limiting factors on coastal development is lack of water and especially potable water in volume. Yes, you can buy bottled water cheaply but you don't build big hotels and casinos etc on bottled water.

Most areas have temperature variations of 5 to 10 degrees between their coolest days and their warmest. It can feel like more depending on if your standing in the sun or the shade. Rainfall varies more radically.ILate August/September in Cuenca can be pretty cold but I promise, it has as much to do with rain and sunshine versus actual degrees.

In summary.....there are no good weather forecasts you can trust for anything. Layer your clothes, bring sweratshirts and windbreakers. Buy a small collapsable umbrella here. And....just to blow everyones mind....the Ecuadorian government reported the number of sunny days....by city....and Cuenca has more sunny days than Salinas. (you can't argue with the government ....right?)

William Russell

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