October Weather in San Pedro de Atacama ChileDaily high temperatures increase by 3°F, from 75°F to 77°F, rarely falling below 69°F or exceeding 81°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 2°F, from 40°F to 42°F, rarely falling below 35°F or exceeding 47°F. For reference, on December 27, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in San Pedro de Atacama typically range from 47°F to 80°F, while on July 11, the coldest day of the year, they range from 34°F to 67°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on October. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Chalchihuites, Mexico (4,006 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to San Pedro de Atacama (view comparison). CloudsThe month of October in San Pedro de Atacama experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 13% to 18%. The clearest day of the month is October 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 87% of the time. For reference, on January 7, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 33%, while on September 9, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 91%. PrecipitationSunOver the course of October in San Pedro de Atacama, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 38 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 16 seconds, and weekly increase of 8 minutes, 55 seconds. The shortest day of the month is October 1, with 12 hours, 19 minutes of daylight and the longest day is October 31, with 12 hours, 57 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in San Pedro de Atacama is 7:12 AM on October 1 and the earliest sunrise is 25 minutes earlier at 6:47 AM on October 31. The earliest sunset is 7:31 PM on October 1 and the latest sunset is 13 minutes later at 7:45 PM on October 31. Daylight saving time is observed in San Pedro de Atacama during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during October, so the entire month is in standard time. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:44 AM and sets 13 hours, 33 minutes later, at 8:17 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:12 AM and sets 10 hours, 44 minutes later, at 5:56 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for October 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in San Pedro de Atacama is essentially constant during October, remaining around 0% throughout. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in San Pedro de Atacama is essentially constant during October, remaining within 0.1 miles per hour of 8.9 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on December 26, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.1 miles per hour, while on April 24, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.8 miles per hour. The lowest daily average wind speed during October is 8.8 miles per hour on October 31. The hourly average wind direction in San Pedro de Atacama throughout October is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 49% on October 31. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in San Pedro de Atacama typically lasts for 8.4 months (254 days), from around September 10 to around May 23, rarely starting before August 6 or after October 27, and rarely ending before April 26 or after June 15. The month of October in San Pedro de Atacama is very likely fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season rapidly increasing from 71% to 93% over the course of the month. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in San Pedro de Atacama are increasing during October, increasing by 326°F, from 660°F to 986°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in San Pedro de Atacama is gradually increasing during October, rising by 0.9 kWh, from 8.3 kWh to 9.2 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of San Pedro de Atacama are -22.911 deg latitude, -68.201 deg longitude, and 8,018 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of San Pedro de Atacama contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 650 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 8,026 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (2,283 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (12,320 feet). The area within 2 miles of San Pedro de Atacama is covered by bare soil (79%), within 10 miles by bare soil (91%), and within 50 miles by bare soil (69%) and sparse vegetation (13%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in San Pedro de Atacama, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Aeródromo El Loa, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of San Pedro de Atacama. At a distance of 91 kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and San Pedro de Atacama according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |