Polar wave: How long will the severe cold continue in Amba and interior areas of the country?

The country is going through an intense cold wave that is concentrated in the central and northern provinces. This Wednesday, almost all jurisdictions, except Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, are on alert due to extreme temperatures and the potential for health impacts.

The lowest marks today were registered in Malargue, Mendoza, with 8.3 degrees below zero; Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, with 8.2 degrees below zero; Marcos Juárez, Córdoba, with 8 degrees below zero; Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe, with the same brand; Azul, inside the PBA, with 7.4 degrees below zero, Villa de María, Córdoba, with the same temperature, and Junín, PBA, with 7.3 degrees negative. In turn, El Palomar registered a temperature of 7 degrees below zero, the minimum for the AMBA region.

“The minimum temperatures in AMBA will continue tomorrow, Thursday, even Friday, especially in Greater Buenos Aires. “From this weekend, although there may still be some areas with negative marks, they will reach temperatures closer to zero degrees or slightly positive,” Cindy Fernández, spokesperson for the National Meteorological Service (SMN), said in conversation. infobae,

It is possible that at the beginning of next week, the minimum temperature will start reaching close to 4 or 5 degrees. That is, there will be cold days, but there will be a slight increase in temperature.

The red alert for extreme cold, the most dangerous, is in place for Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, Mendoza, San Juan, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and parts of Corrientes province. At the orange, intermediate level, they are followed by Formosa, Chaco, Catamarca, Tucumán, Salta, La Rioja, Mendoza and Neuquén, and Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Córdoba, San Juan, San Luis and PBA are repeated.

On the other hand, the yellow warning includes Río Negro, Neuquén, Misiones, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Chaco, Formosa, Jujuy, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba and La Pampa. The SMN warnings indicate that, if low temperatures persist, they can have effects on people’s health. In general, this implies “increased morbidity and mortality”, according to Fernández.

Meanwhile, Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán, in turn, are expected to have winds between 45 and 65 km per hour, with gusts greater than or equal to 100 km/h.

As the spokesperson for the organization explained, the cold conditions throughout the country are due to the combination of several factors. Among them, the entry of cold air of polar origin into the national territory that first affected Patagonia, and then spread to the center and north of the country. “As there were several entrances, each pulse that entered reinforced the low temperatures of the previous ones, which is why there was an almost gradual decrease,” he explained.

This cold was combined with clear skies, no clouds and little humidity: “This contributes to the air cooling down much faster at night than when it is humid and cloudy. There are also longer nights, with more time to cool down.

From the SMN they indicate that the cold wave extended to 11 provinces in the center and north of the country. This means that maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded below certain values ​​for at least three consecutive days.

“These limits are not the same for all cities, each has a different limit determined by the climate of each place. These are temperatures that historically occur less than 10% of the time during winter,” he said. At the moment, many places in the center and north have recorded more than 5 consecutive days with extremely low temperatures.