Saint-Philippe
Geography
Saint-Philippe is on the highest point on the island. It borders the municipalities of Saint-Joseph and Sainte-Rose, to the west and north respectively. Although it is a coastal area, the administrative centre is in Les Hauts (the highland area of the island).
Climate
Saint-Philippe has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af). The average annual temperature in Saint-Philippe is 23.1 °C (73.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 4,260.3 mm (167.73 in) with March as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in January, at around 26.2 °C (79.2 °F), and lowest in July, at around 20.0 °C (68.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Saint-Philippe was 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) on 10 December 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 13.7 °C (56.7 °F) on 20 August 2008.
| Climate data for Saint-Philippe (1981−2010 normals, extremes 1989−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.3 (93.7) |
34.2 (93.6) |
34.4 (93.9) |
32.2 (90.0) |
30.1 (86.2) |
28.5 (83.3) |
30.0 (86.0) |
29.0 (84.2) |
29.5 (85.1) |
31.7 (89.1) |
32.5 (90.5) |
34.7 (94.5) |
34.7 (94.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.8 (85.6) |
29.4 (84.9) |
28.7 (83.7) |
27.4 (81.3) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
22.7 (72.9) |
22.9 (73.2) |
24.0 (75.2) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.2 (81.0) |
29.0 (84.2) |
26.3 (79.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.2 (79.2) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.5 (77.9) |
24.4 (75.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
21.1 (70.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
20.1 (68.2) |
20.8 (69.4) |
22.0 (71.6) |
23.5 (74.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
23.1 (73.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.4 (72.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
19.8 (67.6) |
18.2 (64.8) |
17.4 (63.3) |
17.3 (63.1) |
17.6 (63.7) |
18.6 (65.5) |
19.7 (67.5) |
21.5 (70.7) |
19.9 (67.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19.5 (67.1) |
18.3 (64.9) |
18.8 (65.8) |
17.2 (63.0) |
15.7 (60.3) |
14.6 (58.3) |
14.2 (57.6) |
13.7 (56.7) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.5 (58.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
13.7 (56.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 399.0 (15.71) |
555.2 (21.86) |
564.4 (22.22) |
445.4 (17.54) |
345.5 (13.60) |
299.9 (11.81) |
370.1 (14.57) |
341.7 (13.45) |
275.2 (10.83) |
216.0 (8.50) |
172.2 (6.78) |
275.7 (10.85) |
4,260.3 (167.73) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 18.8 | 20.2 | 21.1 | 20.0 | 19.2 | 19.1 | 23.3 | 20.8 | 17.4 | 15.8 | 12.3 | 14.6 | 222.6 |
| Source: Météo-France | |||||||||||||
History
A notable event in the commune's history was in 1897, when the British troopship RIMS Warren Hastings ran aground in the middle of the night. Two seamen died as a result, the crash sparked by a compass malfunction resulting from the eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise. On board the ship was some electricity, for which the village of Tremblet would have to wait until 1984 to finally receive.
Population
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 3,336 | — |
| 1974 | 3,453 | +0.49% |
| 1982 | 3,476 | +0.08% |
| 1990 | 4,005 | +1.79% |
| 1999 | 4,860 | +2.17% |
| 2007 | 5,129 | +0.68% |
| 2012 | 5,072 | −0.22% |
| 2017 | 5,260 | +0.73% |
| Source: INSEE | ||