Snowy September

Initiation of the 2011-12 wet season has been rather unusual at Quelccaya. A typical, dry August continued into the first week of September, and then the remainder of the month was quite snowy. Net accumulation for the month amounted to 30-40cm, ranking 2011 as one of the snowiest Septembers in our short record (since 2004). Both October and November were relatively dry, with no net accumulation apparent in telemetry data through early December. In this sense, wet-season initiation resembles that of last year; no surprise given continuing La Nina conditions in the Tropical Pacific.