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Mexico City Climate



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Fri Jul 06, 2018 3:49 am
GodfreysBouillon says...



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Last edited by GodfreysBouillon on Mon Jan 11, 2021 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  





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Fri Jul 06, 2018 3:31 pm
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Evander says...



Heyo!

You say that this is for a historical series, so what sort of time period are we talking about here? I will admit that I'm not too familiar with Mexico City, but I will say that I'd be describing the climate differently for Ohio in 2010 compared to Ohio in 2018.

And on the sunburned front, that tends to vary from person to person. I know some people who burn very easily and some people who just don't burn at all.
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Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:16 pm
GodfreysBouillon says...



I get what you're meaning by the time period affecting the climate, but I don't think that really comes into play in this situation.

Now I was hoping to keep the basics of the story secret and the plot will be obvious now, but the story is set in Tenochtitlan, or Mexico City, in the early 16th century.
  





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Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:02 pm
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Vervain says...



Actually, because of the recent industrial revolution and modern climate change, it really does matter what time period it's set in. 16th c. Tenochtitlan is different even from 18th c. Ciudad de México and 14th or 12th c. because the amount of urbanization in an area can change its climate drastically (a lot of modern cities are concrete heat sinks and can measure much higher temperatures than the surrounding area, for example).

I'm on mobile but I'll be back later to answer this.
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Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:48 pm
GodfreysBouillon says...



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Last edited by GodfreysBouillon on Mon Jan 11, 2021 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  





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Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:06 pm
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Vervain says...



So let's take the basics of the scientific climate today:

We're looking at a city with a relatively dry winter and wet summer. You can probably expect a light shower every day from June to September, with heavier rainfall towards the end of summer in the August-September months. (September being the wettest month of the year.)

The hottest month on average is May, with an average temperature of 73 Fahrenheit / 23 Celsius. The temperature almost never exceeds 86 F / 30 C. The highest recorded modern temperature is 93 F / 34 C (May 1998).

What does this mean? It means that Tenochtitlán in the 16th century likely would have been very wet, very humid in the summer months, relatively dry in the winter months (with little to no rainfall), and wouldn't have exceeded a high temperature of 86 F / 30 C. That sounds low compared to high temperatures today, but the heat index with the humidity would likely have been around 90-95 F / 32-35 C. The average low temperature would have been around 35-40 F / 2-5 C.

In a personal rather than scientific context:

Depending on the season, your characters will either be hot and wet or cool and dry. If they're not used to the temperature or humidity, it'll be worse for them than if they are used to it. Someone who's never experienced high humidity before may find themselves short of breath, running out of stamina quickly, or sweating water faster than they can drink it.

Like I said, there would probably be a light shower every day from June to September, and the day would most likely cool off significantly after the rain (only to heat back up again by the next morning). People might sleep outside to catch a breeze or wear absorbent clothes to wick away the sweat. Most of the day is likely to be spent in well-ventilated areas with good breezes or inside an insulated home.

In winter, there has been recorded snowfall, but I would look up specific weather patterns for the year you're basing it off of (because snow is rare).

Sunburn, like Adrian said, depends on who the person is, what their skin tone is, what their natural proclivity is, and if they have any remedies or preventative measures taken against it.

Hope this helps! I'll leave flora and fauna to someone with more experience in that field.
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Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:22 pm
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Brigadier says...



If you want to know what animals and plants they had, aside from the generics that can be assumed of the climate and progression of society, all you really have to do is look at the pottery and metal containers of a specific society and time period.

In the case of Mexico City in the 16th century, it's pretty well established through the basics, that they would have several types of beans and then corn.
- Beans are a staple food and there's so many species, that for every climate that exists, there's a species that can grow in that region.
- Corn is a very traditional crop, grown throughout south and middle America.
Though that's just the staple cultivated crops. They would also have, gourds, which would include many types of squash and pumpkins. Peppers are another traditional crop that would be happening there.
Also cacao beans. Even though they were super detrimental to the environment and used a lot of resources and got a lot of diseases, everybody had them.

If you want to know more about flora that existed without cultivation, just like the trees of the era, you have to consider the different places. Around the different portions of the lake and the several recorded streams, there would most likely be trees similar to bald and pond cypresses. Also lilies and air plants would do good in this area, lots and lots of ferns.

Many types of cactus exist throughout the regions today and would most likely have existed a couple of centuries ago.

I can go into more detail but if you're just looking for things for your character to identify along the way, that should do.

And then if we want to talk a bit about animals, they didn't have much in the way of cultivated animals (originally), if I'm remembering correctly. Most of that was brought by soldiers and missionaries. Any meat from hunting and fishing, would most likely be small game.

Several types of wildcats and panthers existed in the region, and might have been used as a food source. There's also the possibility of wild pigs but probably not until fully introduced by the Spanish, even though there might have been similar species from different families.

An important thing to think about is that they had access to both salt and fresh water, which greatly expands the different types of fish.

As far as game, probably small to medium size birds.
This means turkeys.
Other birds that were worshiped at the time includes hummingbirds, quite a few of those statues.

And then if you just want to talk about animals that they worshiped, monkeys were a big thing. There's a lot of monkey shaped urns.

They had domesticated dogs, that they didn't just have for pets...

In the insects division, grasshoppers, flies and fleas have always existed, in every climate. They would certainly be a pest to the characters.

And then in reptiles, alligators and snakes.

I can go into more detail about any of these parts, I just have to know what you're looking for.

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Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:35 pm
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TheSilverFox says...



^ and a few little things to keep in mind:

I'm guessing this is set around the time of Cortes's invasion/massacre of the populace/ruining everything. If I remember correctly, around 1519, one of the volcanoes (Popocatepetl?) erupted. Mexico City/Tenochtitlan is by at least one or two volcanoes, on top of being in an earthquake-prone area. So I can imagine that the climate would be a little cooler if you're writing in that particular time frame of the early 16th century.

Also, chocolate. Chocolate was popular, expensive, and I believe it was associated with royalty? The Aztec rulers tended to drink a lot of chocolate (granted, the bitter and cold kind, but).

Also, you might want to look at axolotls and some other endemic species in the area, 'cause they're pretty cool.

Aaaand that's about all I have to say. XD
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