A heat wave in Argentina sent temperatures soaring to near 104 degrees Fahrenheit this week. More extreme heat is forecast for parts of the country this weekend. A combination of torrid temperatures and dry weather has stressed livestock and taken a toll on crops such as soybeans and corn.
Portions of the La Pampa and Buenos Aires provinces got some relief with much-needed rain over the weekend. It eased the extreme heat and drought conditions that farmer Marcelo Rodriguez described as an "infernal crisis," per Successful Farming.
Forest fires in southern Argentina have charred over 90,000 acres, according to a Guardian report. Hot, dry, and windy conditions are complicating firefighters' efforts to battle the blazes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to trim its estimates of corn and soybean production for Argentina as a result. Earlier estimates called for a corn harvest of 53 million tons and 48.5 million tons of soybeans.
The heat now hitting Argentina spilled over from 2025, a year that ended with record highs in the capital. Parts of the region were plunged into darkness after an intense heat wave strained the electrical grid and caused widespread power outages in December.
Yellow alerts were posted for the northwest provinces of Argentina for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That means "possible meteorological phenomena with the capacity to cause damage and risk of momentary interruption of daily activities," according to the country's weather service.
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Strong to severe thunderstorms could produce "hail, intense lightning, heavy rainfall in short periods," according to the weather alert. The storms could also be accompanied by winds gusting to over 55 mph. More importantly, some of the storms could bring as much as nearly two inches of rain. The rain will also bring the added benefit of cooler temperatures.
Severe storms can come with a catch. Argentine cherry growers have already felt the impact of severe storms that damaged their crops during a challenging season, and cherry shipments hit a low in the last quarter of 2025.
While any rain is good news, the rain that is coming over the next few days won't be widespread. The type of rainfall that could put a significant dent in drought conditions isn't expected until possibly sometime in February, per Successful Farming.
Farmers are facing this latest dry spell as planting wraps up, with over 93% of corn and 96% of soybeans already sown, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange reported. Pastures and forage crops have withered under drought conditions, hurting livestock production and pushing sorghum yields down to about 2.5 tonnes per hectare, significantly less than the expected 7 tons, Successful Farming highlighted.
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The heat in Argentina has likely been exacerbated by the warming world. The annual temperature in South America was over 2 degrees above average last year, making 2025 the sixth-warmest year on record for the continent. Rates of warming have accelerated as the planet overheats, melting ice and pushing one of South America's largest glaciers to a tipping point.
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$200 or more 💰 "All 12 months were warmer than average, with six of the 12 months ranking among the top nine for their respective months," according to the National Centers for Environmental Information's annual global climate report. "... Nine of South America's 10 warmest years have occurred since 2015, with 1998 among the 10 warmest years on record. The year 2025 also marked the 49th consecutive year with above-average temperatures. South America's yearly temperature rate of increase was 0.13°C (0.23°F) per decade since 1901 and it is twice as much (0.26°C / 0.47°F per decade) since 1981."
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