04.19.11
World Wide Weather #38: Hanga Roa, Easter Island
This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Hanga Roa, Easter Island.
Hanga Roa, Easter Island, from Wikipedia
Hanga Roa (sometimes Hangaroa) is the main city and capital of Easter Island (aka Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua), a territory of Chile. Easter Island is a small, Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, most famous for the monolithic human statues known as moai. The island got its name from the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who on Easter Sunday 1722, became the first known European to land there.
Hanga Roa, on the southwest coast of Easter Island, is located at 27 °S. The island is nearly 1,300 miles east of Pitcairn Island, the nearest inhabited island, and nearly 2,200 miles east of Chile, making Easter Island one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world. The population of Hanga Roa was 3,791 in 2002, making up 87% of the population of the entire island. Primary industries in the city include tourism, fishing, and farming. There is also an airport (the only airport on the island) and a multi-use stadium, home to the island’s football team.
Hanga Roa harbor, from Wikipedia
A few more facts about Hanga Roa (from Wikipedia):
- Time zone: Standard Time (UTC – 6) or Daylight Saving Time (UTC – 5)
- Elevation: varies…begins at sea level, weather station at 167 ft (51 m)
- Climate zone: Humid subtropical
- Average high temperature: 73 °F (23 °C)
- Average low temperature: 66 °F (19 °C)
- Average annual high/low temperature range: 68 to 79 °F (20 to 26 °C) / 61 to 71 °F (16 to 21 °C)
- Average annual rainfall: 44 inches (1,125 mm)
Weather: Thanks to Hanga Roa’s location in the subtropics and on the coast of a small island, the temperature stays mild and fairly constant throughout the year. Precipitation is ample, but not as high as on islands in the southwestern Pacific.
Currently in the southern hemisphere fall, Hanga Roa is expecting highs around 77 °F, lows around 68 °F, and a slight chance of rain every day this week (personally, I think that might get a little boring after a while…but it could be a nice place to visit).
For weather maps and information on current and forecast Hanga Roa and Easter Island weather, see the Dirección Meteorológica de Chile, Weather Underground and Weather Online UK (global maps and models).
Here’s a Wikipedia link for Hanga Roa, and here’s a Wikipedia link for Easter Island.
Next Tuesday I may take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe, but I will be on my way down to Florida for the space shuttle Endeavour’s launch, so I might put the series on hold for another week or two. As always, if you have any suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment!