Editing Geography of Uruguay (section)

==Climate==
{{main|Climate of Uruguay}}
Located entirely within the temperate zone,<ref name=":0" /> Uruguay has a [[humid subtropical climate]] (Cfa according to the [[Köppen climate classification]])<ref>{{cite book |last=Pidwirny |first=Michael |author-link= |date=20 August 2023 |title=Understanding Physical Geography, Appendix 2: Köppen Climate Classification | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rEwGBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |location=Kelowna, British Columbia |publisher=Our Planet Earth Publishing |page=7 |isbn=978-0-9877029-4-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.climate-data.org/south-america/uruguay-191/ | title=Uruguay Climate: Weather Uruguay & Temperature by Month }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=58568&+Uruguay | title=Montevideo, Uruguay Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase) }}</ref> that is fairly uniform nationwide.<ref name=":0" /> Seasonal variations are pronounced, but extremes in temperature are rare.<ref name=":0" /> As would be expected by its abundance of water, high humidity and fog are common.<ref name=":0" /> The absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, makes all locations vulnerable to high winds and rapid changes in weather as fronts or storms sweep across the country.<ref name=":0" /> Weather is sometimes humid.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal |url=https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org |language=en}}</ref>

Seasons are fairly well defined, and in most of Uruguay spring is usually damp, cool, and windy; summers are warm; autumns are mild; and winters are chilly and somewhat uncomfortably damp.<ref name=":0" /> Northwestern Uruguay, however, is farther from large bodies of water and therefore has warmer summers and milder and drier winters than the rest of the country.<ref name=":0" /> Average highs and lows in summer (January) in [[Montevideo]] are {{convert|28|and|17|°C|°F|1}}, respectively, with an absolute maximum of {{convert|43|°C|1}}; comparable numbers for [[Artigas, Uruguay|Artigas]] in the northwest are {{convert|33|and|18|°C|°F|1}}, with the highest temperature ever recorded {{convert|42|°C|1|disp=or}}.<ref name=":0" /> Winter (July) average highs and lows in Montevideo are {{convert|14|and|6|°C|°F|1}}, respectively, although the high humidity makes the temperatures feel colder; the lowest temperature registered in Montevideo is {{convert|-4|°C|1}}.<ref name=":0" /> Averages in July of a high of {{convert|18|°C|1}} and a low of {{convert|7|°C|1}} in Artigas confirm the milder winters in northwestern Uruguay, but even here temperatures have dropped to a subfreezing {{convert|-4|°C|1}}.<ref name=":0" />

Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, and annual amounts increase from southeast to northwest.<ref name=":0" /> Montevideo averages {{convert|950|mm|1|sp=us}} annually, and Artigas receives {{convert|1235|mm|1|sp=us}} in an average year.<ref name=":0" /> As in most temperate climates, rainfall results from the passage of cold fronts in winter, falling in overcast drizzly spells, and summer [[thunderstorm]]s are frequent.<ref name=":0" />

High winds are a disagreeable characteristic of the weather, particularly during the winter and spring, and wind shifts are sudden and pronounced.<ref name=":0" /> A winter warm spell can be abruptly broken by a strong pampero, a chilly and occasionally violent wind blowing north from the Argentine pampas.<ref name=":0" /> Summer winds off the ocean, however, have the salutary effect of tempering warm daytime temperatures.<ref name=":0" />