The pampero is a burst of cold polar air from the west, southwest, or south on the
pampas
The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
in the south of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and
Bolivia. This
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...
(often violently) picks up during the passage of a cold front of an active low passing by. It takes the form of a
squall line
A squall line, or more accurately a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accom ...
and there is a marked drop in temperature after its death. The Pampero is most common in winter in the southern hemisphere (principally between May and August). During the summers in the region around
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, the ''pampero'' storms are a welcome feature marking the end of long periods of high humidity and
extreme heat
A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...
.
Sources
Wind namesat ggweather.com. Accessed Jan 2009
* Penguin Dictionary of Geography, W G Moore, 1949
See also
*
Minuano Minuano is a cold southwesterly wind that blows in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and in Uruguay. It has the same name of the indigenous Minuane people in the Portuguese language (in Spanish, the name of that people is ''Minuán' ...
*
Zonda wind Zonda wind ( es, viento zonda) is a regional term for the foehn wind that often occurs on the eastern slope of the Andes, in Argentina.
Formation
The Zonda is a dry wind (often carrying dust) which comes from the polar maritime air, warmed by des ...
*
Pampas
The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
Winds
Atmospheric dynamics
Climate of Argentina
Climate of Uruguay
Spanish words and phrases
{{Uruguay-stub