Andagoya
|
|
Andagoya is a village in west-central Colombia whose chief claim to fame is its spectacularly monotonous climate, in terms of both temperature and precipitation.
The annual range of monthly mean temperatures - that is to say, the difference between the warmest and coldest months - at Andagoya is mere 0.7°C (approximately 1.3°F) as April, the warmest month, has an average temperature of 27.7°C (81.9°F) while November, the "coldest" month, averages 27.0°C (80.6°F); the average annual temperature is 27.4°C (81.3°F). This near complete uniformity of temperature is caused by the fact that Andagoya, at a latitude of 5° 5' North, lies extremely close to the thermal equator, which is situated a few degrees north of the astronomical equator because the Earth reaches perihelion (its closest position to the Sun in its orbit) in early January and is at aphelion (furthest away) in early July, causing places located precisely at the equator to receive somewhat more insolation (i.e., light and heat energy from the sun) in January than in July even though the height of the sun and the length of days would be the same at both times. At a few degrees north latitude, however, the perihelion/aphelion factor and the slightly higher sun and longer days experienced at the time of the summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere cancel each other out, making the level of insolation experienced there virtually identical throughout the year.
In addition to being monotonously hot, Andagoya is also monotonously wet: Every month of the year has at least 500 millimeters (19.7 inches) of average precipitation (December being the "driest" month), with the wettest month (May) averaging 650 millimeters (25.6 inches). Average annual precipitation is 6,817 millimeters (268.4 inches), and more rain falls at night than during the day, the reverse of what is true in most places that have tropical rain forest climates.
Andagoya is named for Pascual de Andagoya (1495-1548), a Spanish conquistador.