Argentina (Patagonia)

Argentina (Patagonia) – What you should know

Patagonia lies in the southern hemisphere, so the season shifts accordingly: summer from December to February reaches 17–18°C, while winter in June and July manages only 5°C with night frost. For Los Glaciares National Park, the Perito Moreno glacier and the trekking routes around El Chaltén, November to March is the window.

The most striking figure is sunshine duration: 10.8 hours in November and 10.6 in January, against 2.8 in June. This comes from the southern latitude and its very long summer days — in December darkness does not fall until around 10 pm. For photographers and climbers that extends the usable day considerably.

Rain is not the issue here — at 22 to 45 mm a month, the Argentine side of the Andes is decidedly dry, because the mountains intercept Pacific moisture. The wind is. Patagonia sits in the belt of the westerlies, and in spring and summer gusts regularly reach strengths that make walking hard work and exposed sections dangerous. Come in January and you get the best light and the strongest wind together.