Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I thought in general, most tropical climates would be pretty similar where rain falls in heavy downpours.
I've noticed that Miami has way more sun (even correcting for measuring method or error) than a similar monsoonal climate, Rio de Janeiro even though it has more rain days and more of a rainfall amount.
Miami has over 3000 (even if it's an overestimate, and it's really high 2000s or something) hours which is more than Rio's which is closer to 2000 hours, even though the less sunny climate actually has fewer rain days (112 for Rio vs. 135 for Miami) and less rain (46 inches for Rio vs. 62 for Miami) annually.
Another example.
Bangkok, Thailand vs. Darwin, Australia.
Almost the same number of rain days (113) and Darwin has even more rain (68 inches vs. Bangkok's 54), yet Bangkok has closer to 2600 hours and Darwin 3110 of sun.
Is it the case that not all monsoonal/wet climates have the same duration of heavy downpours and some have lighter rain over a longer duration, even though all of them have heavier downpours in general than temperate climates? What would make Miami's sun more able to shine between rain events or rain days than Rio de Janeiro's, or Darwin's more than Bangkok's?
Like Miami, the rain in Darwin's wet season is heavy, almost daily and yet short-lived, giving away to sun. Bangkok is heavily influenced by the East Asian monsoon which usually brings cloudy weather even in its dry season. Darwin is extremely sunny in the dry season, thanks to Australia's 'subtropical high'. I would assume that Bangkok gets cloudy weather in the dry season, despite the little rain.
Again, like Bangkok, I would say that Rio is just very cloudy overall. South America is rather cloudy, even its driest places like Lima, Arica & Iquique (one of the driest in the world) tend to be very cloudy.
Like Miami, the rain in Darwin's wet season is heavy, almost daily and yet short-lived, giving away to sun. Bangkok is heavily influenced by the East Asian monsoon which usually brings cloudy weather even in its dry season. Darwin is extremely sunny in the dry season, thanks to Australia's 'subtropical high'. I would assume that Bangkok gets cloudy weather in the dry season, despite the little rain.
Again, like Bangkok, I would say that Rio is just very cloudy overall. South America is rather cloudy, even its driest places like Lima, Arica & Iquique (one of the driest in the world) tend to be very cloudy.
Iquique is not "very cloudy" by any means! Even Arica at 2400 hrs is merely cloudier than many locations at its latitude. Lima however certainly is. Refer my table of Chilean sunshine means posted a while back.
Rio's readings may be partly prejudiced by the surrounding hills ... and Argentina overall is not very cloudy.
Like Miami, the rain in Darwin's wet season is heavy, almost daily and yet short-lived, giving away to sun. Bangkok is heavily influenced by the East Asian monsoon which usually brings cloudy weather even in its dry season. Darwin is extremely sunny in the dry season, thanks to Australia's 'subtropical high'. I would assume that Bangkok gets cloudy weather in the dry season, despite the little rain.
Again, like Bangkok, I would say that Rio is just very cloudy overall. South America is rather cloudy, even its driest places like Lima, Arica & Iquique (one of the driest in the world) tend to be very cloudy.
That's interesting. So what determines if monsoon climates get cloudy weather in the dry season even with little rain? I don't think fronts are coming down to the latitudes of Thailand or Brazil anyways, so what makes the Caribbean and Australia sunnier than other monsoon climates in Asia or Latin America?
What would make one monsoonal climate sunnier than another in the dry month and one cloudier in the dry month if both are driven by the same kinds of climate processes?
That's interesting. So what determines if monsoon climates get cloudy weather in the dry season even with little rain? I don't think fronts are coming down to the latitudes of Thailand or Brazil anyways, so what makes the Caribbean and Australia sunnier than other monsoon climates in Asia or Latin America?
What would make one monsoonal climate sunnier than another in the dry month and one cloudier in the dry month if both are driven by the same kinds of climate processes?
In the tropics, clouds are formed by evaporation of oceans. Their proximity to the equator guarantees intense sunlight.
Kinshasa in west Africa is very cloudy despite not being on the coast.
Darwin, Australia, is on the coast and has way more sun. Miami and Key West even more so and seem way too sunny for their climate type.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
