Patagonia · Today, November 12 · 10:15 ARG/CHI time
Today in Pucón: 17 °C (63 °F), 4 km/h winds
La Araucanía Region, Chile · Lake and Volcano Villarrica
🌒Fact of the day · Chiloé: Chiloé is an archipelago in Chile's Los Lagos Region, south of Puerto Montt.Explore by topic
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Patagonia destinations
Things to do, month-by-month weather, best time to visit, how to get there and how long to stay, with data from official sources.
Ushuaia
Tierra del Fuego, Argentina · Beagle Channel
El Calafate
Santa Cruz, Argentina · Lake Argentino
Bariloche
Río Negro, Argentina · Nahuel Huapi Lake
Puerto Natales
Magallanes, Chile · Gateway to Torres del Paine
El Chaltén
Santa Cruz, Argentina · National Trekking Capital
Puerto Madryn y Península Valdés
Chubut, Argentina · Gateway to Península Valdés
Punta Arenas
Magallanes, Chile · On the Strait of Magellan
Puerto Varas y Puerto Montt
Los Lagos Region, Chile · Lake Llanquihue and Osorno Volcano
Pucón
La Araucanía Region, Chile · Lake and Volcano Villarrica
Chiloé
Los Lagos Region, Chile · Castro, Ancud and Dalcahue
Coyhaique y la Carretera Austral
Aysén Region, Chile · Route 7, from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins
San Martín de los Andes y Villa La Angostura
Neuquén, Argentina · Seven Lakes Route
Esquel y El Bolsón
Chubut and Río Negro, Argentina · Andean Region
Puerto Williams
Navarino Island, Magallanes, Chile · South of the Beagle Channel
Climbing
Climbing in Patagonia, route by route
Grade, length, bolts and first ascensionist for every route, taken from the guidebooks written by local climbers. We're starting with Esquel.
- 73
- Routes
- 4
- Areas
- 8b
- Max grade
Routes by grade · Esquel
Data from Esqala — Guía de escalada de Esquel (v1.1, 2021). The original guidebook has the topo for every wall.
- Sucio y harapientoEl Badén7b
- ManuelitaEl Badén6b
- Besos a la nenaEl Badén6a+
- Liberen a WilaEl Badén6b+
- Corre rasta correEl Badén7a+
- FefeLa Palestra6b
- Bin LadenLa Palestra6a+
- Faloperitos de siempreLa Palestra6b+
- Herencia MendocinaLa Palestra6a+
- Memorial Guy CostaLa Palestra6a+
- Juego de menteLa Palestra7a+
- La PiliLa Palestra6c
Patagonia right now
Updated hourlyWeather at key spots
Source: Open-Meteo
Glaciers — current temperature
Perito Moreno
Los Glaciares NP
Campo de Hielo Sur
Patagonian Ice Field
Glaciar Grey
Torres del Paine
Source: Open-Meteo
Astronomy — Patagonian skies
Waxing crescent
Next full moon: November 24 (13 days)
Dark skies — ideal for the Milky Way
Photos — recent records in Patagonia
Source: iNaturalist
Why UV is so high in southern Patagonia
The ozone layer
A band of the stratosphere (15-35 km up) that absorbs almost all of the sun's UV-B radiation. Where it is thinner, more UV reaches the ground.
What is it? An area over Antarctica where the ozone layer gets so thin in spring that it lets through much more UV radiation than usual.
Did humans cause it? Yes. CFCs —gases used in aerosols, fridges and air conditioners until the 1980s— release chlorine when they reach the stratosphere. That chlorine acts as a catalyst that breaks ozone molecules (O₃) apart again and again without being used up. The Montreal Protocol (1987) banned those gases almost everywhere, but CFCs take decades to leave the atmosphere.
Why does it happen in the south? In winter, the polar vortex forms over Antarctica: a whirl of wind that isolates that air from the rest of the planet and makes it extremely cold. With the first spring sunlight (September-October), those extreme temperatures activate the chlorine and ozone is destroyed quickly inside the vortex. The Arctic doesn't have such a stable vortex, which is why the big hole is almost exclusive to the southern hemisphere.
How far does it reach? The hole is centered on Antarctica, but the vortex stretches and sometimes passes over the southern tip of South America. Most often it covers Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz (Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Río Gallegos); in the most extreme events its edge has reached southern Chubut, around Comodoro Rivadavia. When it passes overhead, UV in those cities can jump far above normal for that latitude — even on cold, cloudy days, because clouds don't block UV-B the way you'd expect.
Relative probability that the ozone hole affects southern Patagonia, by month (historical pattern, not a live measurement). Usual peak: September-October.
The hole has been shrinking since 1987 (the Montreal Protocol, which banned CFCs) — Antarctica is expected to get back to its pre-1980 ozone levels only around 2066.
Source: NASA Ozone Watch
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