Temperatures decrease with altitude gain, and at lower elevations around they average . Between they average and at elevation they average . At altitudes above they remain below freezing. Temperatures fluctuate more over daily timescales than over seasonal ones when measured close to the glaciers. Southerly cold waves can sometimes reach Coropuna, leaving traces in ice cores in the form of southern pollen. During the Little Ice Age, at elevation temperatures decreased to . Warm fluctuations between about 2,200 and 900years ago, plus a cold fluctuation between around 970 to 1010 AD, are also recorded.