The top three wettest and top three driest countries in Latin America

[Zanzibar]

Using this website: https://knoema.com/atlas/ranks/Precipitation

Here are top three wettest nations in Lat Am by average annual precipitation (rain/snow)
1. Colombia- 3240 mm, it is also #1 out of 182 or the most wettest country in the world
2. Panama- 2928 mm, the 2nd most wettest in the region 5th wettest nation in the world (out of 182 countries worldwide)
3. Costa Rica- 2926 mm, the 3rd wettest regionally and also the 6th wettest nation in the planet

The top three driest nations by average precipitation (rain/snow):
1. Argentina- 591 mm, ranks #134 out of 182 countries in terms of the amount of precipitation
2. Mexico- 758 mm, ranks 110th out of 182 nations with the most precipitation in the world
3. Paraguay- 1130 mm, the 82nd most wettest country.
4. Bolivia (I will add it also as it is pretty close to Paraguay in precipitation)- 1130 mm, ranks 83rd wettest nation

Here are the non-Latin American equivalent nations with the closest amount of precipitations to these top three wettest and top three/four driest countries:

1. Colombia- Sao Tome and Principe which is the 2nd most wettest country in the world at 3200 mm, Papua New Guinea which ranks #3 out of 182 at 3142 mm are the closest in terms of precipitation
2. Panama - Solomon Islands, the 4th wettest nation at 3028 mm, Samoa which ranks #7th out of 182 countries in terms of precipitation at 2880 mm are the closest in terms of precipitation
3. Costa Rica- closest would also be Solomon Islands and Samoa

1. Argentina- closest equivalents in precipitation would be Turkey which ranks #132 and has approximately 593 mm and Hungary which ranks #135 and has an annual average precipitation of 589 mm
2. Mexico- closest equivalents would be Netherlands which ranks #109 at 778 mm and Burkina Faso, a Sahelian country in West Africa at #748 mm
3. Paraguay- closest in terms of precipitation would be Nigeria which ranks #81 mm and Ireland which ranks #84 at 1118 mm and even Croatia which ranks #85 at 1113 mm
4. Bolivia- closest would be Slovenia which ranks #80 at 1162 mm, Nigeria (rank #81 at 1150 mm) and Ireland (rank #84 at 1118 mm) in terms of precipitation

**For other Latin American countries not among the top three wettest or driest: - 4

I got the graph from this website: https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/ran...tion/Latin-Am/

-Nicaragua and Ecuador is the 4th and 5th wettest nation in Latin America and ranks the 22nd and 23rd most wettest country at 2280 mm and 2274 mm
-Puerto Rico and Venezuela ranks #6 and #7 in the region and globally #29 and #31 at 2054 mm and 2044 mm
-Guatemala and Honduras ranks #8 and #9 and worldwide, #34 and #35 at 1996 mm and 1976 mm
-El Salvador, Brazil and Peru are the 10th, 11st and 12nd most wettest places in the region and ranks #42, #43 and #44 out of 182 nations in terms of worldwide precipitation at around 1784 mm, 1761 mm and 1738 mm
-Chile ranks #13 among Latin American countries with the most precipitation and ranks 57th out of 182 countries at 1522 mm
-Haiti is the 14th wettest nation in the region and globally, the 62nd wettest out of 182 countries at 1440 mm
-Dominican Republic ranks #15 among the wettest in the region and globally, the 66th most wettest nation at 1410 mm
-Cuba and Uruguay ranks 16th and 17th wettest countries in the region, and globally rank around 69th and 70th at 1335 mm and 1300 mm.

Here are the non-Lat Am equivalents of precipitations to these countries:

1. Nicaragua and Ecuador- the closest are Seychelles which is an island nation off the coast of East Africa ranks #20 at 2330 mm, Saint Lucia which is in Caribbean ranks #21 at 2301 mm and Bhutan which is the #24 most wettest out of 182 countries at 2200 mm of average annual precipitation
2. Puerto Rico and Venezuela- closest are Dominica, which is a Caribbean/West Indian island (not be confused with DR) ranks #28 with a yearly average of 2083 mm, Jamaica which is the 30th most wettest nation at 2051 mm and Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa and Madagascar, ranks #32 at 2041 mm
3. Guatemala and Honduras- closest in terms of rainfall are Vanuatu, a Melanesian archipelago in the Pacific which ranks #33 at 2000 mm, Maldives ranks #36 at 1972 mm and Iceland which ranks #37 at 1940 mm
4. El Salvador, Brazil and Peru- closest would be Vietnam which ranks #41 at 1821 mm, New Zealand which ranks #45 at 1732 mm and Sri Lanka which ranks #46 at 1712 mm
5. Chile- closest would be Switzerland which ranks #56 at 1537 mm and Madagascar who is the 58th wettest nation on the planet at 1513 mm
6. Haiti- closest would be Albania which is #61 at 1485 mm and Saint Kitts and Nevis, another West Indian/Caribbean island, who is #63 at 1427 mm
7. Dominican Republic- closest are Norway who is the 65th country with the most precipitation at 1414 mm and Cote D'Ivoire/Ivory Coast in West Africa who ranks #67 at 1348 mm
8. Cuba and Uruguay- closest are Central African Republic which is #68 at 1335 mm and Bahamas in the Caribbean who is #71 at 1293 mm

Also compared to other regions of the world, Latin America is very wet in terms of precipitation which is around 1774.3 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country...th/Mm-per-year

Compared to Sub Saharan Africa's average of 1097.46 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country...th/Mm-per-year

Or South and Central Asia (they combined them together) average of 1061.15 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country...th/Mm-per-year although there is also a separate South Asian average which is around 1354 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/group-stats/South-Asia/Geography/Average-precipitation-in-depth/Mm-per-year"

Europe's average of 848.95 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country...th/Mm-per-year

and MENA's average of 186.81 mm: https://www.nationmaster.com/country...th/Mm-per-year


Anyways apologies for the long walls of words. But please take the time to see all of it.

Thoughts? Do you find this interesting?

[Lemminkäinen]

Wow, I thought that we have too much rainy days Finland. Looks like not, our numbers are 500 to 650 mm.

[Zanzibar]

Wow, I thought that we have too much rainy days Finland. Looks like not, our numbers are 500 to 650 mm.

How much rainy days do you have on average per year? I guess you do you have a lot of rains but they are not that heavy and don't last for hours?

Also amount of rainy days does not seem to correlate or equal to precipitation.

For example, Helsinki has approx 182-205 rainy days but only an average amount of 655-682 mm per year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki#Climate

Now compare to Sao Paulo which apparently have only 106 days but receive around 1308.3 mm per year which is twice the amount in Helsinki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo#Climate


A second example: Glasgow has around 167-174.6 rainy days according to wikipedia and has an average annual precipitation of 1245.3 to 1318.4 mm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow#Climate

Now compare it to Port Harcourt in Nigeria which approximately 139.7 rainy days but receive 2311 mm which is almost double the amount of Glasgow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Harcourt#Climate

Also precipitation also means snow, so in that case that 500 to 650 mm might also includes snowfall as well?

[Lemminkäinen]

How much rainy days do you have on average per year? I guess you do you have a lot of rains but they are not that heavy and don't last for hours?

Also amount of rainy days does not seem to correlate or equal to precipitation.

For example, Helsinki has approx 182-205 rainy days but only an average amount of 655-682 mm per year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki#Climate

Now compare to Sao Paulo which apparently have only 106 days but receive around 1308.3 mm per year which is twice the amount in Helsinki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo#Climate


A second example: Glasgow has around 167-174.6 rainy days according to wikipedia and has an average annual precipitation of 1245.3 to 1318.4 mm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow#Climate

Now compare it to Port Harcourt in Nigeria which approximately 139.7 rainy days but receive 2311 mm which is almost double the amount of Glasgow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Harcourt#Climate

Also precipitation also means snow, so in that case that 500 to 650 mm might also includes snowfall as well?

Yeah, you are definitely right and snowing is included. Again, rainy days don't mean raining the while day. Very often rainy day means in Helsinki raining for some hours. The rest of day can be sunshine or cloudy without raining. So this is a bit complex. Oxford Dictionary explains:

Meteorology
(In the United Kingdom) a 24-hour period commencing at 9.00 a.m. GMT on which there is at least 0·01 inch or 0·2 mm of recorded rainfall.

If we divide 500 mm annual number by 365 days we get 1.4 mm per day averagely. Definition for rain types

Slight rain: Less than 0.5 mm per hour.
Moderate rain: Greater than 0.5 mm per hour, but less than 4.0 mm per hour.
Heavy rain: Greater than 4 mm per hour, but less than 8 mm per hour.
Very heavy rain: Greater than 8 mm per hour

We can conclude 500 mm annual number means

Maybe 3 hours slight rain per day.
0.5 hours moderate rain per day.
15 min heavy rain per day.
Maybe 7 min very heavy rain per day.

The day time means 24 hours.

What ever rainy days mean, it can't mean hours raining every day.

I don't know what it means.

[Loki]

This is something I'm interested in.

Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica have very high rainfalls because they receive rain clouds coming from two oceans (Pacific and Atlantic) , throughout the year.

Colombia's wettest region is the narrow Pacific coastal strip on the West. It receives over 10,000 mm per year, rivalling the wettest areas in Meghalaya, India.

[Peterski]

This is something I'm interested in.

Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica have very high rainfalls because they receive rain clouds coming from two oceans (Pacific and Atlantic) , throughout the year.

Colombia's wettest region is the narrow Pacific coastal strip on the West. It receives over 10,000 mm per year, rivalling the wettest areas in Meghalaya, India.

Does climate correlate with phenotypes in Latin America? We have to ask GiCa!

[Andullero]

Thoughts? Do you find this interesting?

I am not convinced that the Haitian part of this island gets or have gotten more raindrop than the Domi one, sorry. I have been there, and I can tell you from experience that they have more dry/savannah patches than us, specially on the Southwest and Northwestern most parts of the island when the landscape becomes a veritable desert.

[Zanzibar]

I am not convinced that the Haitian part of this island gets or have gotten more raindrop than the Domi one, sorry. I have been there, and I can tell you from experience that they have more dry/savannah patches than us, specially on the Southwest and Northwestern most parts of the island when the landscape becomes a veritable desert.

I C. So you would say Haiti is overall drier than DR? Would you still say both countries have average precipitation around 1400+ mm or those numbers are also not accurate?

[Andullero]

I C. So you would say Haiti is overall drier than DR? Would you still say both countries have average precipitation around 1400+ mm or those numbers are also not accurate?

I'd say a definite yes to Haiti been drier. As for the 1400 number here, I'd say it is more or less an accurate approximation, cuz the amount of raindrop varies according to the region. Our north is definitely the wettest region, while the southwest is the driest, even having a dune perimeter in it.

[Loki]

Does climate correlate with phenotypes in Latin America? We have to ask GiCa!

Well, we know that regions like Latin America is largely populated by relatively recent immigrants from Europe, and their descendants. So you can't really link them to specific climates. However, since we are specifically talking about wet Colombia - - it is interesting to note that the wettest area in Colombia (as mentioned previously) is mostly populated by the black minority of Colombia (Afro-Colombians). They are concentrated on the West Coast in the high rainfall area.