2. Climate

The climate of Isla de los Estados is strongly influence by the centre of the sub-polar low pressure which develops around the Antarctic Circle. The current climate of Isla de los Estados is cold and humid and corresponds to general classification of Oceanic Insular Cold Climate. Summer has a mean temperature of 8.3 °C, with mean daily extremes of 16.2 and 3 °C. Winter mean temperature is 3.3 °C, with mean daily extremes of 7.4 and −4 °C. Though no reliable records are yet available, rainfall is estimated to be in the range of 2,000 mm/year, but actual precipitation may be highly variable across the island, particularly in altitude. Prevailing winds are from the southwest and the northwest and they are active throughout the year. Isla de los Estados is washed by the western branch of the Malvinas/Falkland current, an arm of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that brings cold Sub-Antarctic waters.