The South American country is battling its eighth heat wave ever this week. (Representative)
Buenos Aires:
Argentina broke heat and cold records this week within a short window of just five days, with temperatures plunging 30 degrees Celsius as a heatwave gave way to historic snowfall.
A cold front from Patagonia caused temperatures in Buenos Aires to drop from a high of 38.1C (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit) last Sunday to just 7.9C (46.2F) on Thursday – a record low for the month of February since 1951 , reported the National Meteorological Service.
The lowest ever recorded was 4.2C in 1910.
This week the South American country is battling its eighth heat wave so far this summer, with temperatures rising to nearly 40C (104F) in the center and north.
But that same week, on Friday, the lower peaks of the Sierra de la Ventana mountains, some 560 kilometers (350 miles) west of the capital Buenos Aires, received snow for the first time since records began, with a minimum temperature of minus 4C . In the city of the same name.
February lows were also recorded elsewhere, according to meteorologist Christian Garavaglia, as a block of cold air from the South Pole entered central Argentina after crossing the Andes from neighboring Chile.
In just five days, the streets of Buenos Aires turned gray from the sun, from people wiping sweat to donning coats.
The “extreme variability” was caused by a strong La Niña weather event, Garavaglia said.
He said La Nina makes the air and soil drier than normal, leading to extreme temperature fluctuations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Shoot Diaries starring Malaika Arora
