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Founded in 1596, Monterrey is the third largest city in Mexico--and is generally accepted to be the technological and industrial capital of the country. While not considered a tourist destination (such as Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan), it is a very important business center due to its proximity to the U.S. border. In fact, the two ports of entry to the United States that service Monterrey (via Laredo and Colombia) are together the busiest ports of entry on the U.S./Mexican border. Thousands of semis cross the border in each direction each day. Although not a major tourist destination, Monterrey does have a number of attractions to offer visitors who are willing to go out and explore instead of lounging on the beach during their next vacation. Besides a number of cultural attractions in the city, much of Monterrey's tourist attractions are "outdoor" in nature.
Monterrey is located 150 miles from the Texas border, about 2-1/2 hours south of Laredo TX. It is reached from the United States by taking I-35 to the Texas border in Laredo and continuing south on Mexican Highway 85. It may also be reached from McAllen TX by taking Mexican Highway 40 west. In all cases, the driver should choose the "Autopista" (toll-road) to avoid the poorly maintained "libre" (free highway). You may, of course, choose to fly into Monterrey's international airport, with multiple flights each day to and from Dallas and Houston. In addition to Mexico's Mexicana airline, American and Continental Airlines also provide regular service to Monterrey. POPULATION The Monterrey metropolitan area which, in addition to Monterrey itself, consists of the cities San Nicolas de los Garza, Santa Catarina, Garza Garcia, Guadalupe, Escobedo and Apodaca, is home to approximately 2.8 million of the 3.8 million that live in the state of Nuevo Leon. The people of Monterrey are young: 44% are younger than 20 years old, and 74% are younger than 44.
Monterrey has an elevation of 1740 feet above sea level. It is located in a wide basin about 40 miles across, surrounded to the north, west, and south by mountains, as can be seen in the satellite image to the left.
To the west, the Cerro Las Mitras mountain towers at 6800 feet above sea level, nearly a mile higher than Monterrey and the surrounding area. This is a challenging mountain for experienced climbers. To the south, the imposing Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range reaches heights of up to 12,300 feet above sea level--an impressive 2 miles above the surrounding area and Monterrey itself, That means that the mountain range to the south of Monterrey actually towers higher over Monterrey than the Rocky Mountains tower over Denver! Note that the colors in this satellite foto do not reflect the actual ground color. In fact, the only area that is really "green" in the Monterrey area is in the Sierra Madre mountain range to the south of Monterrey where tall trees cover all but the highest mountains. The Monterrey basin area and most of the rest of the surrounding mountains are actually quite brown and rocky--with little more than shrubs that are brown most of the year--only turning green after periods of rainfall.
Monterrey has an arid climate. Rain is relatively scarce, Monterrey's annual rainfall averaging 23 inches, 16 of which fall between June and October which corresponds to the Atlantic hurricane season. September is the month with most rainfall, receiving an average of 5.3 inches of rain--nearly three times the monthly average. The temperatures in Monterrey can also be quite extreme. In August, the average high temperature is listed as being 91 degrees. However, my personal expierence allows me to say that it is not at all uncommon for high temperatures to reach between 98 and 105 degrees. In December, the average low temperature is listed as 48 degrees but, again, person experience allows me to say that it is common for temperatures to dip down as far as freezing several times each winter.
During the "rainy" season, it tends to rain in the afternoons as the hot days cool off to warm evenings. Clouds condense and rain follows. Rain usually comes in short, intense storms that may last for 5-30 minutes. Street flooding is not uncommon due to an entirely inadequate drainage system in the city. Street flooding can easily reach depths of 2 feet, which is sufficient to stall many vehicles on the spot. Certain high-risk areas of the city are vulnerable to excessive and dangerous street flooding which has, on occasion, carried people and cars away. Beware of underpasses and low-lying areas when it has been raining hard for more than about 10 minutes or so. Most rainfall is produced by these afternoon storms that form from the humidity in the air. Seldom is it cloudy and rainy for an entire day. Interestingly, when an entire day is cloudy it seems that there is actually less rain, or no rain at all, that day. Large weather systems consisting of large cloud banks often drift by without leaving much rain. The exception to this is the occasional remanent of a hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico, or sometimes from the Pacific. These can, and do, bring increased rainfall. Such storm systems are rare, however. THIS WEB PAGE I put together this webpage to share information and pictures of Monterrey with the world. Although I am 100% American, I've lived in Monterrey for the last 9 years and I personally believe that individuals should use the Internet to share their experiences for the benefit of others... so this webpage is my contribution. Hopefully it will be of use or of interest to someone interested in learning more about Monterrey, or even visiting. Please be sure to visit the links on the left sidebar under "About Monterrey." These links, in white text, are additional pages covering specific areas of sites of interest in the Monterrey area. I'll add more sites as time progresses and I take more pictures--even though I've lived here for six years, I haven't taken as many pictures as I should have. I'll make up for that over the next weeks and months.
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