SMAweather.com
weather in San Miguel de Allende
Our weather station is located in the campo, 5 miles northwest of the Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende Centro.
The current conditions page is updated once per minute and our data is sent hourly to Weather Underground. (Other weather sites, such as weather.com, are actually reporting data from weather stations located in Queretaro or Guanajuato.)
Internet service to the weather station occasionally fails, usually due to power interruptions in San Miguel. The station continues to collect information and updates our on-line reports as soon as the connection is restored.
San Miguel is at high altitude in a mountainous region. Weather patterns and current conditions can vary significantly across short distances.
Buildings retain solar energy resulting in warmer nights than we experience in the country. Frost-sensitive plants are more successful. For the same reason, warm afternoons will be warmer and last longer in town.
The countryside warms up quickly in the morning, even in winter. Shadows cast by buildings keep San Miguel cool until the sun is more directly overhead.
Rainfall in the mountains is very localized; there can be a downpour in one area with no rain at all just a mile away. San Miguel de Allende is nestled against the foot of mountains which can sometimes cause more rain to fall in town than in the campo.
On January 1, 2009 we added a solar radiation sensor (pyranometer) which measures both the direct and diffuse components of solar irradiance.
Solar Irradiance is the amount of the Sun's radiant power per unit area that flows over or onto a surface. We are reporting current solar irradiance (solar radiation) as watts per square meter. The monthly reports include average daily kilowatt hours per square meter, the most useful measurement for planning your solar power system.
Unless you are a farmer or a very serious gardener, you probably won't be interested in this measurement. Evapotranspiration is the amount of water transferred from the earth to the atmosphere due to the combined effects of evaporation and transpiration. Transpiration is the process by which plants release water vapor into the air.
Actual ET depends on the type of plant, soil type, and many other variables. We are reporting a calculated Reference ET (ETo) for grass. This is the amount of ET that is expected for dense, clipped, well-watered grass under our actual weather conditions. (This is not an encouragement to grow grass in San Miguel de Allende!)
We love sunshine and rain! We use 100% solar power and harvested rainwater. More information soon at Green Map San Miguel.