São Joaquim
São Joaquim is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, situated in southern Brazil. It is located at latitude 28° 17' 38" south and longitude 49° 55' 54" west, with an altitude of. Its population in 2004 was 23,114 inhabitants. Located in the Planalto Serrano, it lies from Tubarão, from Lages and from Florianópolis. The town is home to a variety of ethnic groups, including Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Afro- Brazilians, though composed mainly of descendants of German and Swedish immigrants. There is also a large proportation of the population from other states in Brazil, especially from Rio Grande do Sul.
Economy
The town's economy was once based on livestock, but recently the cultivation of temperate fruits such as apples has become more prominent. Today, São Joaquim is the largest producer of fruit in the state, with over 1000 small producers. Tourism is also important for the town, as it is one of the coldest places in Brazil and sometimes receives snowfall, a rather uncommon occurrence for the majority of Brazil. The town is also known for its wines, such as Villa Francioni, Joaquim, Quinta da Neve, Núbio and Suzin, which are reaching international recognition, especially in East Asia.Geography
Situated 1360 meters above sea level, São Joaquim is one of the highest cities in the country, as altitude of the seat of the municipality. Its year-round mild climate and cold winter to Brazilian standards allows apple cultivation as in other similar climate areas. Being promoted the National Festival of Apple, fruit that does not adapt easily in most regions of Brazil. EPAGRI, the state's agricultural agency, has an Experimental Station where the cultivation of Fuji brought by Fumio Hiragami brought from Curitibanos is perfected in this place. The plants come from Japan.Its population was of 24,812 inhabitants in the census of 2010. The municipality has an area of 1,892.26 km2. It is part of the microregion of Campos de Lages, in the mesoregion of Serrana of Santa Catarina. But since mid-2017 it is in the immediate region of Lages.
Climate
Due the altitude above 3280 ft and a few degrees below the tropics, the climate of the city is highland subtropical modified for precipitation sufficiently moist in every month, more abundant throughout the year, with cool summers and low temperatures in winter, but not so below freezing point. The average annual temperature is 11.4 °C to 14.3 °C. Since the maximum average does not exceed 20 °C. At the same time, the minimum averages are above 7 °C. The annual precipitation is high from 1450 mm to 1650 mm and about 135 rainy days. Winter precipitations can occur at crucial times in the seasonbut tend not to be plentiful and cumulative, except in few occasions. Together with Urupema, Urubici and Bom Jardim da Serra and São José dos Ausentes, São Joaquim is considered the coldest city in Brazil if the maximum average temperature and the number of cold hours are considered. During the winter months, frost is common - every month they are subject to the phenomenon, being more common from May to September, although strong masses of polar air may enter as early as April. Outside winter, spring and fall may receive frosts due to the prevailing cold and dry air. Frost can occur even in midsummer and are 40.8 days on average per year where the freezing of soil and plants occurs between the years of 1980 and 2003 registered by the meteorological station in the place.Occasionally, in the days of more intense cold, precipitations occur in the form of snow, being one of the few Brazilian cities that receives snow almost every year, a rare phenomenon in the average cities of the south of the country. However, it does not appear many times a year, with an average of 5 to 7 days in the region in normal winters, and is rarely intense, since the latitude of the city is relatively low to provide more abundant and more frequent snowfall precipitations. In 1990 there were 12 days of snow, one of the snowiest years of the century. The snow was already registered from April to October, with the earliest occurring on April 16 and 17, 1999, and the later on October 3 of the same year, in the Cruzeiro district. August is the most snow-favoring month. Between 1999 and 2010 were 10 days. In general from June to August it can snow.
in 1968, 11 years after the state's biggest blizzard
According to data from the National Institute of Meteorology, from 1961 to 1983, 1988 to 1989, 1992 to 1998 and from 2000 to 2017, the lowest temperature recorded in São Joaquim was -9 °C on July 14, 2000. Since 1961 there have been 10 times where the minimum temperatures reached -7 °C or less. For the same period until October 10, 2018 were 435 times when the temperature was at -1 °C or less below zero at 57 years. The highest reached 31.4 °C on December 20, 1971. Temperature records above 30 °C also occurred on December 19, 1971, January 4, 1963, January 6, 1963, February 1973 and 17 December 1995 30 °C. All in just 4 occasions the temperature has surpassed 30 °C since 1961, which is rare for a city in the 28th parallel or even for elevation. On July 13, 2000, the temperature did not exceed -2 °C, which was the lowest recorded in the period.
The largest accumulated precipitation in 24 hours was 124.2 mm on July 6, 1983. Other large accumulations were 123.1 mm on August 17, 1983, 123 mm on July 4, 1993,112 mm on October 1, 2001, 111.6 mm on August 9, 2011, 111.4 mm on September 19, 2015, 109.3 mm on November 6, 1974, 108.8 mm on September 28, 2009, 105.5 mm on February 21, 1994, 101.7 mm on May 28, 1992 and 101.4 mm on February 22, 1961. The month of greatest precipitation was July 1983, with 28.992 in. The lowest relative air humidity was on August 30, 1976 with 19.5%. With a value below 20% there was another occasion on June 12, 1996 with 19.75% relative humidity, which is confused with the driest season of the year.
Snow and features
In a country without persistent freezing, except for sporadic frosts in the south, São Joaquim is one of the few Brazilian cities where you are likely to observe snow most years. For this reason, the city is a tourist attraction for Brazilians, the majority of whom will never see snow. Located in an elevated area, it is an urban area with the highest number of snowy days, despite its location in relation to other higher rural areas. On July 20, 1957 the city suffered the second largest blizzard in the country, and the largest in Santa Catarina with 1.3 m of accumulated snow, which is uncommon for a mostly tropical country. The city was isolated for a week and received supplies by air. It snowed for 7 uninterrupted hours, and continued sporadically in the days following, temporarily closing the highways.Studies show the increase of the precipitation frequency with the warm phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation and its decrease during the El Niño and La Ninã episodes. The average is 2.7 days per year in São Joaquim with the majority coming from polar anticyclones with an extratropical cyclone. The maximum gap in the monthly range of snowfall was between April and October, i.e. between autumn and the first weeks of spring, considering the years 1980 to 2013. In the same interval the year with the most frequency was in 1990, at the same time that there were years without any occurrence. In descending order July and August are the snowiest months, period most affected by cold air masses. Between 1980 and 2010, the city had 103 cases of snow, if the distribution were even, this would mean that in each year there were at least 3 days with this type of precipitation. In 36% of the cases, there is a causal relationship with the arrival of cold waves. A few years ago they never received snow like 1971, 1986 and 2005. Although other sources consider that flakes fall in the last year quoted previously and mark 1991 with no snowy day.