La Foa
# La Foa

La Foa is a commune in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.

Although the provincial seat of the South Province is in Nouméa, La Foa was made the chief town of the administrative subdivision of the South in order to counterbalance the overwhelming weight of Nouméa in New Caledonia. Both entities share an almost identical territory, but their status and role is quite different: the South Province, with its provincial assembly in Nouméa, is a full political division, whereas the administrative subdivision of the South is only an administrative division of the French central state, akin to an arrondissement of Metropolitan France, with a Deputy Commissioner of the Republic (commissaire délégué de la République), akin to a subprefect of metropolitan France, in residence in La Foa.

## Geography

### Climate

La Foa has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). The average annual temperature in La Foa is 22.7 °C (72.9 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,128.4 mm (44.43 in) with February as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in February, at around 26.5 °C (79.7 °F), and lowest in July, at around 18.9 °C (66.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in La Foa was 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) on 12 December 1952; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 4.2 °C (39.6 °F) on 29 July 1968.

Climate data for La Foa (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1952−present) :

| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.4 (97.5) | 37.1 (98.8) | 36.9 (98.4) | 34.8 (94.6) | 33.5 (92.3) | 32.5 (90.5) | 31.2 (88.2) | 32.0 (89.6) | 34.5 (94.1) | 34.8 (94.6) | 37.2 (99.0) | 38.0 (100.4) | 38.0 (100.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.8 (89.2) | 30.9 (87.6) | 29.5 (85.1) | 27.5 (81.5) | 26.0 (78.8) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.3 (77.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 28.8 (83.8) | 30.1 (86.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 28.7 (83.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.0 (78.8) | 26.5 (79.7) | 25.8 (78.4) | 24.0 (75.2) | 21.8 (71.2) | 20.1 (68.2) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.9 (66.0) | 20.0 (68.0) | 21.9 (71.4) | 23.5 (74.3) | 25.3 (77.5) | 22.7 (72.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 20.4 (68.7) | 21.3 (70.3) | 20.7 (69.3) | 18.5 (65.3) | 16.0 (60.8) | 14.2 (57.6) | 12.6 (54.7) | 12.5 (54.5) | 13.1 (55.6) | 15.0 (59.0) | 16.9 (62.4) | 19.2 (66.6) | 16.7 (62.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 12.0 (53.6) | 9.0 (48.2) | 12.2 (54.0) | 8.8 (47.8) | 7.0 (44.6) | 4.9 (40.8) | 4.2 (39.6) | 5.4 (41.7) | 5.3 (41.5) | 6.0 (42.8) | 8.5 (47.3) | 11.4 (52.5) | 4.2 (39.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 155.0 (6.10) | 184.3 (7.26) | 177.3 (6.98) | 102.9 (4.05) | 78.0 (3.07) | 72.2 (2.84) | 64.8 (2.55) | 62.7 (2.47) | 35.7 (1.41) | 29.6 (1.17) | 63.2 (2.49) | 102.7 (4.04) | 1,128.4 (44.43) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.9 | 11.4 | 11.7 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 5.7 | 8.1 | 89.5 |
| Source: Météo-France ||||||||||||||
