The climate of Arequipa
BWk Cold desert. Very dry, with cool or cold conditions through the year. A desert because of dryness, but cooler on average than a hot desert, often with cold winters. Typical of high plateaus and continental interiors.
Arequipa is south of the equator, so its seasons run the opposite way to those in Europe: summer falls in December to February and winter in June to August. The 1901 to 1930 map puts Arequipa in the same zone, BWk.
Arequipa: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | BWk Cold desert | Same as now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | BWk Cold desert | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | BWk Cold desert | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | BWk Cold desert | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | BWh Hot desert | Different from now |
The 2071 to 2099 rows are model projections under three emissions scenarios, not forecasts. The 1901 to 1930 row is a reconstruction. All come from Beck et al. (2023).
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the model keeps Arequipa in BWk in 2071 to 2099. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is BWh (hot desert).
Cities with the same climate as Arequipa
Other big cities that are BWk (cold desert) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
More
Population of Arequipa from GeoNames: 1,195,700 (rank 462 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.