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Some cities receive large amounts of precipitation but is spread out more so their average rainy day would just be some drizzle, whereas in other places it's much more concentrated and an average rainy day would be a quick burst of rain. So I wanted to see how much rain a place receives on an average rainy day.
Seattle:
Wettest: [Nov] 6.57 in (166.9 mm) / 18.4 days = 0.36 in/day (9.07 mm/day) Driest: [Jul] 0.70 in (17.8mm) / 5.0 days = 0.14 in/day (3.56 mm/day) Annual: 37.49 in (952.2 mm) / 152.0 days = 0.25 in/day (6.26 mm/day)
New York City:
Wettest: [Jul] 4.60 in (116.8 mm) / 10.4 days = 0.44 in/day (11.23 mm/day) Driest: [Feb] 3.09 in (78.5 mm) / 9.2 days = 0.33 in/day (8.53 mm/day) Annual: 49.94 in (1,268.5 mm) / 122.0 days = 0.41 in/day (10.40 mm/day)
Miami:
Wettest: [Sep] 9.86 in (250.4 mm) / 17.9 days = 0.55 in/day (14.00 mm/day) Driest: [Jan] 1.62 in (41.1 mm) / 6.9 days = 0.23 in/day (6.00 mm/day) Annual: 61.9 in (1,572.3 mm) / 135.2 days = 0.46 in/day (11.63 mm/day)
Phoenix:
Wettest: [Jul] 1.05 in (26.7 mm) / 4.2 days = 0.25 in/day (6.36 mm/day) Driest: [Jun] 0.02 in (0.5 mm) / 0.5 days = 0.04 in/day (1.00 mm/day) Annual: 8.03 in (204 mm) / 36.6 days = 0.22 in/day (5.57 mm/day)
So what about where you live? And what kind of distribution do you like, many drizzly days, or a few strong downpours? And how much rain on an average rainy day do you find Ideal?
Year: 90.5 inches in 222 days (perhaps a few more, as that is drier airport figure) .24/day
Typically, rainfall here is intermittent drizzle all day.
I prefer the rainfall pattern of the tropics, especially windward Hawaii, where you get the harder downpours with longer periods of dry weather in between.
Year: 90.5 inches in 222 days (perhaps a few more, as that is drier airport figure) .24/day
Typically, rainfall here is intermittent drizzle all day.
I prefer the rainfall pattern of the tropics, especially windward Hawaii, where you get the harder downpours with longer periods of dry weather in between.
I agree. When it rains, it should rain. Here, especially in the winter, we have very slow rates of precipitation - it can rain all day and add up to only 0.2". I don't want any of that. When it rains, it should come down at a decent rate for about an hour in the evening, and then CLEAR UP by the following morning, not just stay overcast for the next three days.
You would think my city is pretty dry with only 572mm of precipitation. Wrong, because it also gets 230 precipitation days. Albeit a lot of that is snow during winter where most days between January and February have trace snowfall at some point during the day. Still, I'd much rather compress the rainfall into pretty much as few as possible days. I'd rather have a 20mm downpour in half an hour than a steady light rain for 24h straight.
To me, precipitation amount is almost completely irrelevant except for vegetation (and to some extent humidity ofc.). What matters most is precipitation days, or even precipitation hours.
You would think my city is pretty dry with only 572mm of precipitation. Wrong, because it also gets 230 precipitation days. Albeit a lot of that is snow during winter where most days between January and February have trace snowfall at some point during the day. Still, I'd much rather compress the rainfall into pretty much as few as possible days. I'd rather have a 20mm downpour in half an hour than a steady light rain for 24h straight.
To me, precipitation amount is almost completely irrelevant except for vegetation (and to some extent humidity ofc.). What matters most is precipitation days, or even precipitation hours.
I agree, I wish there would calculate rain in terms of hours, rather than days, because a rainy day might only rain for a few hours, but the rest of the day might actually be very nice.
You would think my city is pretty dry with only 572mm of precipitation. Wrong, because it also gets 230 precipitation days.
Yes, because the treshold is 0.1mm. If there's a fog or dew, it might well count up as a "rainy day" though not a single drop of real rainfall is seen.
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I don't want any of that. When it rains, it should come down at a decent rate for about an hour in the evening, and then CLEAR UP by the following morning, not just stay overcast for the next three days.
