Which city has the best "tropical" climate. Which has the worst. (average, days)
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Very often deep tropical stations (Ar) are not totally appealing weather/climate wise – places like Belem (Amazon)…Kisangani (Congo Basin)….Costa Rica, Singapore (SE Asia)…ect often have no dry season, are very hot all year, are locations of feeble pressure gradients (so little wind most of the year), and the insect world reins supreme. There is the myth that the closer to the equator a climate is the better.
IMO the best tropical climates are on the margins of the tropics, and located in coastal locations. Stations from 20/25 N/S (roughly) get all the low latitude solar and thermal benefits, but due to some seasonal change in pressure patterns, avoid the never ending hot, wet, stifling conditions that deep tropical locations are well known for. Stations on the margin of the tropics – normally Aw climates…have a good hot season with great rains…and a cool season where the drier trade winds bring slightly cooler (but still warm) weather, stable pressure, sunny skies, light breezes, and warm seas. Climate can hardly get more perfect.
My vote would be for stations like Rio, Miami, Honolulu, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Townsville/Mackay,…etc. IMO, once you get much south of 20 N/S, the benefits of tropical climates are equal to their pitfalls.
^^ The best tropical climates are less than 20 degrees from the equator.
Jamaica is a classic example of a good tropical climate, possibly the best.
Monthly sunshine hours are pretty even year-round.
Winter highs even dropping to 80 F/27 C are scarce in coastal areas.
Winter lows dropping to 65 F/18 C or below are also scarce in coastal areas.
Yet Winter highs seldom reach or pass 90 F, and winter lows seldom reach or pass 75 F.
Climates between 20-25 degrees are great subtropical climates,
but lousy if you crave reliable midwinter evening warmth.
I'd agree though that closer to the equator is not good because you lose sunshine.
Probably more than 10 degrees from the equator is ideal...
except this exposes you to tropical storms.
Would have to disagree with you there….much below 20 latitude tropical climates lose their luster fast for me.
While Jamaica is a nice tropical climate (and not far from 20 latitude anyway)…but it is only so because it’s breezy narrow island right in the heart of the trade winds (17 north), with fleeting precip, and mostly sunny/dry conditions. Try living in a deep interior tropical area at 12 o 7 N/S (lol). Once you get into interior deep tropical stations much below 18/20 N/S insects/dampness/less sun/and little wind are the rule. That’s a pretty lousy climate picture to most people. Malaria anyone. We had a family friend move to Coasta Rica with his family from the states...they came running back home with bug bites and said they spent as little time outside as possible.
Tropical climates between 20/25 offer the best of both worlds: You have dry winters, blazing sunshine, warm temps (still upper 70’s to low 80’s day…60’s at night in the middle of winter), and those old reliable trade winds make it feel like paradise. If your by the coast like Rio or Miami it ‘s a A !
I think the ideal are places like Aruba which are equatorial but semi arid and also out of the hurricane belt. Places at 20-25N/S are prone to tropical cyclones/hurricanes and can get chilly winter nights. Waking up to mornings that are 5C or even sometimes less in winter is not my idea of a tropical paradise. I spent a year living in Southern China just over the border with Hong Kong and let me tell you some of those winter mornings were brutally cold without heating.
I've not been to a deep tropical climate (does Barbados count?), but my fav is by far the Caribbean. I like the margins of the tropics at just the point where the cold fronts can't make it thru. Cuba (not allowed to go)comes to mind, Bahamas, USVI, Puerto Rico, etc. During winter the cold fronts get destroyed as they cross thru the Florida straits into the Caribbean. The water is just way to warm.
We in the US are spoiled because the Caribbean is right on our doorstep and is an amazing winter getaway. From Philly we can be in the Bahamas in two hours with no time change.
I think the ideal are places like Aruba which are equatorial but semi arid and also out of the hurricane belt. Places at 20-25N/S are prone to tropical cyclones/hurricanes and can get chilly winter nights. Waking up to mornings that are 5C or even sometimes less in winter is not my idea of a tropical paradise. I spent a year living in Southern China just over the border with Hong Kong and let me tell you some of those winter mornings were brutally cold without heating.
I lived in Hong Kong as well and totally second that I think I felt colder without heating some mornings in HK than anywhere else in France.
By the way, I have lived by the equator (Singapore), and despite unreliable sunshine and the eternal movement of clouds and lack of high pressure, the rest was perfect : strong, bright light; comfortably warm temperatures, seldom excessively hot, lush greenery and constant daylight. Loved it. The best of all was the absolute certitude to never be cold, any day, at any time of the year, any time. Underrated
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