In 1993, the agribusiness began recording the meteorological history of the Cauca River Valley with twelve stations. Today there are 37 stations and millions of data that allow the sector and the region to have a better understanding of the climate from Viterbo, in Caldas, to Santander de Quilichao, in Cauca.
 | The rainiest season in the Cauca river valley is Viterbo, in Caldas, where an average of 1970 mm of precipitation is recorded annually. The least rainy town or station is Rozo, where 795 mm fall annually. |
| 2008 was the year with the highest number of rainy days on average in the Cauca river valley, with 224 days. |
| The longest period of consecutive days with rain occurred at the Santander de Quilichao station. There were 28 days of rain in a row, between April 1 and April 28, 2011. During this period, 352 mm fell. |
| The highest monthly rainfall occurred in Santander de Quilichao in October 2007, month in which a total of 510 mm was registered. |
| The rainiest year was 2010, when on average in the region they fell 1644 mm. In that year, the month with the highest rainfall was November when, on average, 297 mm of rain fell in the Cauca River valley. |
 | The highest number of consecutive days without rain was recorded at the Amaime station in 1997, when between June and August there were 77 dry days. |
 | The least rainy month was August 1997, in which the accumulated average rainfall of the Cauca river valley was 4 mm. In 50% of the meteorological stations rains of less than 1 mm were recorded. |
| The driest year was 2015, period in which 931 mm of rain was recorded on average in the Cauca river valley. That was also the hottest year with an average temperature of 24.1 oC for the region. |
| Of 2015 the hottest month was August, when the average maximum temperatures of the La Paila station reached 35.8 oC. |
 | The highest maximum temperature record occurred on December 29, 2015 when in the Zarzal station this variable reached 39.6 oC. That same day at the Ortigal station, this variable reached 39.4 oC. |
 | The town where the highest solar radiation is recorded is San Marcos, with an average 450 cal per cm2 per day. |
| The highest monthly solar radiation was in February 2007, when on average in the Cauca river valley 495 cal per cm were recorded2 per day. |
| The warmest season is the one located in Cali (Melendez), where the mean annual temperature is 24.2 oC. |
| The RUT district is the station where the highest maximum temperatures are constantly recorded. |
| The station with the lowest average daily temperatures is Palmira La Rita (22.7 oC). |
 | The coldest month of this period was September 2007, when average minimum temperatures reached 14 oC in the town of Guachinte. |
| Jamundí is the station where the lowest minimum temperatures are constantly recorded. There the average monthly minimum temperature is 18.4 oC. |
| The coldest year was 1999 with an average temperature of 22.5 oC. |
| The lowest minimum temperature record was reached on November 22, 2016, when 11.3 were recorded oC at Arroyohondo station and 11.5 oC in Bugalagrande. |
 | The largest fluctuation in air temperature occurred at the Zarzal station on November 22, 2016. That day the difference in air temperature between early morning and afternoon was 22.8 oC. |
| The station where the highest average daily temperature oscillation is recorded is that of the RUT district (12.2 ° C), while the town with the least oscillation is Corinto (9.7 oC). |
| The year in which the largest fluctuations in air temperature occurred in the Cauca river valley was 2015, with 12.2 oC mean difference between minimum and maximum temperature. |
 | The day with the highest average wind speed record was September 4, 2017. That day, at La Seca station, the average wind speed was 3.7 m / s. This value is equivalent to a journey of 320 km per day. |
| On August 10, 2015, at 5:11 pm the highest wind speed was recorded at La Seca station. At that moment 25.7 m / s was recorded, equivalent to a 90 km / h wind. |
| En general, the month in which the highest values of mean wind speed are recorded is September. |
Five decades of work
25 years ago, the Colombian sugarcane agribusiness assumed the responsibility of recording the climate history of the Cauca river valley and commissioned a meteorological engineer trained at the Leningrad Hydrometeorological Institute, in Russia, and with experience in the then Himat.
Enrique Cortés Betancourt, from the Cenicaña Meteorological and Climatology area, was in charge of leading in 1993 the installation of the first twelve stations of the Automated Meteorological Network (RMA); later, with the passing of the years and a great deal of consolidated information, it was up to him to analyze this information.
The analyzes of the data measured in the meteorological stations allowed to consolidate the knowledge of the spatial and temporal variability of the elements of the climate and the wind in the Cauca river valley.
The knowledge of this variability has been a fundamental basis of the agroecological zoning of the sugar cane cultivation, and of the support systems for decision-making in the field and in the factory.
Starting in September of this year, Enrique Cortés begins a new stage as a retiree, with the satisfaction of having contributed his knowledge and experience to the construction of one of the most important tools in agribusiness and regional agriculture in general.
Thank you very much and success in your new projects.
Information Letter | OCT 2018: 10-11
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