The climate is continental, sunny and dry in the entire territory of the province, with warm summers and relatively cold winters. The arid soil due to the scant precipitation and the great temperature difference between day and night allows mainly xerophytes and few trees to grow. The annual precipitation lies between 150 and 350mm, and hail is a significant, and not uncommon, problem in the regional viticulture. There are fertile lands surrounding the basins of the many rivers born in the glaciers of the "Cordillera."