High-Elevation Meteorological Datasets from the Quelccaya Ice Cap and Surrounding Sites in the Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru: 2012–2026

Abstract. The Cordillera Vilcanota of Peru, the second largest glacierized mountain range in the tropics and home to the Quelccaya Ice Cap, is a critical water tower that has experienced rapid glacier retreat and environmental change in recent decades. Here, we present quality-controlled meteorological datasets (between 2012 and 2026) from five automatic weather stations (AWSs) spanning elevations from 4,895 to 6,349 m: Lake Sibinacocha (4,895 m), Murmurani Alto (5,050 m), Osjollo Anante (5,540 m), Quelccaya Ice Cap (5,650 m), and Ausangate (6,349 m). Available variables include temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, snow height change, and solar irradiance. Precipitation amount and type are also available from Lake Sibinacocha and Quelccaya Ice Cap AWSs, while selected snow pit observations and radiosonde data from upper-air soundings complement the surface meteorological observations. The datasets have direct relevance to investigations on topics such as precipitation characteristics, climate-cryosphere interactions, environmental change, and paleoclimatic reconstructions from ice, peat, and sediment cores. All datasets are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23315967 (Perry et al., 2026).