Round-the-World Weather

CLIMATES OF THE WORLD

Temperature distribution

The distribution of temperature over the world and its variations through the year depend primarily on the amount of distribution of the radiant energy received from the sun in different regions. This in turn depends mainly on latitude but is greatly modified by the distribution of continents and oceans, prevailing winds, oceanic circulation, topography, and other factors.

In the winter of the Northern Hemisphere (see Average January Temperature map), the poleward temperature gradient (that is, the rate of fall in temperature) north of latitude 15° is very steep over the interior of North America. This is shown by the fact that the lines indicating changes in temperature come very close together. The temperature gradient is also steep toward the cold pole over Asia in the area marked–50°F. In western Europe, to the east of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic Drift, and in the region of prevailing westerly winds, the temperature gradient is much more gradual, as indicated by the fact that the isotherms, or lines of equal temperature, are far apart. In the winter of the Southern Hemisphere (see Average July Temperature map), the temperature gradient toward the South Pole is very gradual, and the isothermal deflections from the east-west direction (that is, the dipping of the isothermal lines) are of minor importance because continental effects are largely absent.

In the summers of the two hemispheres—July in the north and January in the south—the temperature gradients poleward are very much diminished as compared with those during the winter. This is especially marked over the middle and higher northern latitudes because of the greater warming of the extensive interiors of North America and Eurasia than of the smaller land areas in middle and higher southern latitudes.

Distribution of precipitation

Whether precipitation occurs as rain or snow or in the rarer forms of hail or sleet depends largely on the temperature climate, which may be influenced more by elevation than by latitude, as in the case of the perpetually snowcapped mountain peaks and glaciers on the equator in both South America and Africa.

The quantity of precipitation is governed by the amount of water vapor in the air and the nature of the process that leads to its condensation into liquid or solid form through cooling. Air may ascend to great elevations through local convection, as in thunderstorms and in tropical regions generally; it may be forced up over topographical elevations across the prevailing wind direction, as on the southern or windward slopes of the Himalayas in the path of the southwest monsoon in India; or it may ascend more or less gradually in migratory low-pressure formations such as those that govern the main features of weather in the United States.

The areas of heaviest precipitation on the map ( World Precipitation ) are generally located, as would be expected, in tropical regions, where because of high temperature the greatest amount of water vapor may be present in the atmosphere and the greatest evaporation takes place—although only where conditions favor condensation can rainfall occur. Outstanding exceptions are certain regions in high latitudes, such as southern Alaska, western Norway, and southern Chile, where relatively warm, moist winds from the sea undergo forced ascent over considerable elevations.

In marked contrast to the rainy regions just named, are the dry polar regions, where the water vapor content of the air is always very low because of the low temperature and very limited evaporation. The dry areas in the subtropical belts of high atmospheric pressure in the vicinity of latitude 30° on all continents (especially from the extreme western Sahara over a broad, somewhat broken belt to the Desert of Gobi), and the arid strips on the lee sides of mountains on whose windward slopes precipitation is heavy to excessive, are caused by conditions which, even though the temperature may be high, are unfavorable to the condensation of whatever water vapor may be present in the atmosphere.

North America

North America is nearly all within middle and northern latitudes. Consequently, it has a large central area in which the continental type of climate with marked seasonal temperature is to be found. Along the coasts of northern Alaska, western Canada, and the northwestern part of the United States, moderate midsummer temperatures are in marked contrast to those prevailing in the interior east of the mountains.

Again, the mild midwinter temperatures in the coastal areas stand out against the severe conditions to be found from the Great Lakes region northward and northwestward.

In the West Indian region, temperature conditions are subtropical; and in Mexico and Central America, climatic zones depend on elevation, ranging from subtropical to temperate in the higher levels.

The prevailing westerly wind movement carries the continental type of climate eastward over the United States, so that the region of maritime climate along the Atlantic Ocean is very narrow.

From the Aleutian Peninsula to northern California west of the crests of the mountains, there is a narrow strip where annual precipitation is over 40 in; it exceeds 100 in locally on the coast of British Columbia. East of this belt there is an abrupt falloff in precipitation to less than 20 in annually over the western half of the continent from lower California northward, and to even less than 5 in in parts of what used to be called the "Great American Desert" in the southwestern part of the United States.

In the eastern part of the continent—that is, from the southeastern part of the United States northeastward to Newfoundland—the average annual precipitation is more than 40 in. Rainfall in the West Indies, southern Mexico, and Central America is generally abundant. It is very spotty, however, varying widely even within short distances, especially from the windward to the leeward sides of the mountains.

The northern areas are, of course, very cold; but the midwinter low temperatures fall far short of the records set in the cold pole area of northeastern Siberia, where the vast extent of land becomes much colder than the partly ice covered area of northern Canada.

South America

A large part of South America lies within the tropics and has a characteristically tropical climate. The remaining rather narrow southern portion is not subject to the extremes of heat and cold that are found where wide land areas give full sway to the continental type of climate with its hot summers and cold winters, as in North America and Asia. Temperature anomalies unusual for a given latitude are to be found mainly at the elevated levels of the Andean region stretching from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn.

The Antarctic Current and its cool Humboldt branch skirting the western shores northward to the equator, together with the prevailing onshore winds, exert a strong cooling influence over the coastal regions of all the western countries of South America except Colombia. On the east the southerly moving Brazilian current from tropical waters has the opposite, or warming, effect except along southern Argentina.

In the northern countries of South America the sharply contrasted dry and wet seasons are related to the regime of the trade winds. In the dry season (corresponding to winter in the Northern Hemisphere) these winds sweep the entire region, while the wet season (corresponding to summer in the Northern Hemisphere) calms and variable winds prevail. In the basin of the Amazon River the rainfall is related to the equatorial belt of low pressure and to the trade winds, which give the maximum amounts of rainfall in the extreme west, where they ascend the Andean slopes.

The desert areas on the west coast of South America, extending from the equator to the latitude of Santiago, Chile, are due primarily to the cold Humboldt or Peruvian Current and upwelling coastal water. The moist, cool ocean air is warmed while passing over the land, with a consequent decrease in relative humidity, so that the dew point is not reached and condensation of vapor does not occur until the incoming air has reached high elevations in the Andes, where temperatures are much lower than along the coast.

In southern Chile the summer has moderate rainfall, and winters are excessively wet. The conditions that prevail farther north are not present here, and condensation of moisture from the ocean progresses from the shores up to the crests of the Andes. By the time the air passes these elevations, however, the moisture has been so depleted that the winds in the leeward slopes are dry, becoming more and more so as they are warmed on reaching lower levels. The mountains can be looked upon as casting a great "rain shadow"—an area of little rain—over southern Argentina.

Europe

In Europe there is no extensive north-south mountain system such as is found in both the Americas, and the general east-west direction of the ranges in the south allows the conditions in the maritime west to change rather gradually toward Asia. Generally rainfall is heaviest on the western coast, where locally it exceeds 60 in annually, and diminishes toward the east—except in the elevated Alpine and Caucasus regions—to less than 20 in in eastern Russia. There is a well-defined rain shadow in Scandinavia, with over 60 in of rain in western Norway and less than 20 in in eastern Sweden.

Over much of Europe, rainfall is both abundant and rather evenly distributed throughout the year. The chief feature of seasonal distribution of precipitation is the marked winter maximum and the extremely dry, even droughty, summers in most of the Mediterranean lands.

Isothermal lines have the general direction of the parallels of latitude except in winter, when the waters of the western ocean, warmed by the Gulf Stream, give them a north-south trend. Generally there are no marked dips in isotherms due to elevation and continental type of climate such as are found in North America. In Scandinavia, however, the winter map shows an abrupt fall in temperature from the western coast of Norway to the eastern coast of Sweden and then a continued fall eastward, under a type of exposure more and more continental in contrast to the oceanic exposure on the west.

Asia

The vast extent of Asia gives full opportunity for continental conditions to develop a cold area of high barometric pressure in winter and a low-pressure, hot area in summer, the former northeast of the Himalayas and the latter stretching widely from west to east in the latitude of northern India. These distributions of pressure give India the well-known monsoon seasons, during which the wind comes from one direction for several months, and also affect the yearly distribution of rainfall over eastern Asia.

In winter, the air circulates outward over the land from the cold pole, and precipitation is very light over the entire continent. In summer, on the contrary, there is an inflow of air from the oceans; even the southeast trade winds flow across the equator and merge into the southwest monsoon that crosses India. This usually produces abundant rain over most of that country, with excessively heavy amounts when the air is forced to rise, even to moderate elevations, in its passage over the land. At Cherrapunji (4,590 ft), on the southern side of the Khasi Hills in Assam, the average rainfall in a winter month is about 1 in, while in both June and July it is approximately 100 in. However, this heavy summer rainfall meets an impassable barrier in the Himalayas, while the much lighter summer monsoon rainfall over Japan and eastern Asia does not extend far into China because of lesser elevations. Consequently, while the southeast quadrant of Asia, including the East Indies, also with monsoon winds, has heavy to excessive annual rainfall, the remainder of the continent is dry, with vast areas receiving less than 10 in annually.

North of the Himalayas the low plains are excessively cold in winter and temperatures rise rather high in summer. At Verkhoyansk in the cold pole area, and north of the Arctic Circle, the mean temperature in January is about–59°F, and in July approximately 64°F; the extreme records are a maximum of 98°F, from readings at 1 P.M ., and a minimum of–90°F.

In southwestern Asia the winter temperature control is still the interior high-pressure area, and temperatures are generally low, especially at high elevations; in summer at low elevations excessively high maxima are recorded, as, for example, in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.

Africa

Africa, like South America, lies very largely within the tropics. There too, temperature distribution is determined mainly by altitude. Moreover, along the southern portion of the western coast the cool Benguela Current moves northward, and on the eastern coast are the warm, tropical currents of the Indian Ocean, which create conditions closely paralleling those found around the South American continent. In the strictly tropical areas of Africa, conditions are characterized by prevailing low barometric pressure, with conventional rainfall and alternate northward and southward movement of the heat equator; while in both the north and the south the ruling influences are the belts of high barometric pressure.

Except in the Atlas Mountains in the northwest where the considerable elevations set up a barrier in the path of trade winds and produce moderate rainfall, the desert conditions typified by the Sahara extend from the Atlantic to the Red Sea and from the Mediterranean southward well beyond the tropic of Cancer to about the latitudes of southern Arabia.

South of the Sahara, rainfall increases rapidly, becoming abundant to heavy from the west coast to the central lakes, with annual maxima of over 80 in in the regions bordering the eastern and western extremes of the Guinea coast. This marked increase in precipitation does not extend to the eastern portion of the middle region of the continent, where the annual amounts received are below 40 in and decrease to less than 10 in on the coasts of Somalia. Also to the south of the central rainy area there is a rapid fall in precipitation toward the regions of southwest Africa, where conditions are similar to those in Somalia.

The heavy rainfall over sections of Ethiopia from June to October, when more than 40 in fall and bring the overflowing of the Nile Valley, is one of Earth's outstanding features of seasonal distribution of rainfall.

Moist equatorial climate is typified by conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; arid torrid climate by those of the Arabian Peninsula and the Sahara; and moderate plateau climate by those found in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Australia

In the southern winter the high-pressure belt crosses the interior of Australia, and all except the southernmost parts of the continent are dry. In summer, on the other hand, this pressure belt has moved south of the continent, still giving dry conditions over the southern and western areas. Thus, the total annual precipitation is less than 20 in except in the extreme southwest and in a strip circling from southeast to northwest. The average annual precipitation is even less than 10 in in a large south-central area.

In the south, the winter precipitation is the cyclonic type; the heavy summer rains of the north are of monsoon origin; and those of the eastern borders are in large part orographic, owing to the presence of the highlands in the immediate vicinity of the coasts. In the outer border of the rainfall strip along the coastal region, the mean annual rainfall is over 40 in and in many localities over 60 in. This is true for the monsoon rains in the north.

Because of the location of Australia, on both sides of the tropic of Capricorn, temperatures far below freezing are found only in a small part of the continent, in the south at high elevations. In the arid interior, extreme maximum temperatures are very high, ranking with those of the hottest regions on Earth.

The following tables provide data on mean maximum and minimum temperatures for January, April, July, and October, with extremes recorded in the period of record, and monthly and annual precipitation for about 170 selected stations well-distributed worldwide.

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Mexico:	80	57	84	61	90	77	89	73	*3	*1	*1	#	*1	*3	*13	*13	*11	*3	*2	*3	*54
Mazatlan
Mexico City	70	45	78	53	74	56	73	52	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.8	1.9	4.2	5.1	4.8	4.3	1.7	0.6	0.3	25.0
Tampico	71	59	82	71	88	77	84	73	*7	*7	*4	*4	*4	*6	*8	*7	*10	*6	*6	*6	*75
British Honduras:	80	70	85	76	86	79	84	75	4.5	2.6	1.9	1.7	4.0	8.6	8.1	7.0	9.5	10.0	7.0	6.7	71.2
Belize
Canal Zone:	89	76	89	78	87	77	85	76	*24	*13	*10	*18	*26	*22	*22	*23	*24	*26	*26	*28	*262
Panama City
Costa Rica:	83	72	85	74	84	75	85	74	12.5	8.5	8.0	10.8	11.3	11.3	16.2	11.7	5.6	7.2	14.7	16.1	133.8
Limon
El Salvador:	83	65	87	70	83	69	82	68	0.4	0	0.4	1.2	5.3	12.4	11.1	13.2	12.9	8.5	1.4	0.2	67.0
San Salvador
Guatemala:	72	55	78	60	74	61	73	61	*4	*3	*4	*5	*14	*23	*20	*20	*23	*15	*7	*5	*143
Guatemala City
Honduras:	80	70	86	74	87	75	84	74	9.9	7.6	4.6	3.5	3.6	5.7	8.4	9.0	9.1	16.0	15.9	16.1	110.0
Tela
Argentina:	85	64	72	53	58	41	71	51	4.2	4.0	4.0	3.3	3.1	2.1	2.3	2.3	2.4	4.0	3.6	3.3	38.5
Buenos Aires
Bolivia:	55	39	57	36	55	27	58	36	5.1	4.1	2.8	1.4	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.6	1.2	1.6	2.0	3.7	23.1
La Paz
Sucre	67	55	67	53	66	46	69	54	*7	*7	*6	*2	#	#	#	*1	*2	*4	*5	*6	*40

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Brazil:	87	74	87	75	89	74	89	74	13.8	16.2	17.4	14.6	11.1	6.5	6.1	4.8	5.1	4.1	4.0	7.9	110.0
Belem
Brasilia	81	64	82	62	79	52	83	63	*21	*18	*18	*12	*6	*2	*2	*3	*8	*16	*21	*24	*151
Rio de Janeiro	91	74	87	71	81	64	84	68	5.3	4.9	5.3	4.3	3.1	2.0	1.8	1.8	2.4	3.2	3.9	5.4	43.3
Chile:	85	54	72	45	57	37	71	45	0	0.1	0.2	0.5	2.3	3.1	3.0	2.1	1.1	0.5	0.2	0.2	13.4
Santiago
Colombia:	66	43	66	48	64	47	65	47	1.9	2.0	3.2	4.7	4.0	2.4	1.8	1.9	2.3	5.6	4.5	2.7	37.8
Bogota
Ecuador:	66	50	66	51	67	49	67	49	4.5	5.1	6.0	6.9	4.9	1.9	0.8	1.0	3.1	5.0	4.3	4.1	47.5
Quito
French Guiana:	82	74	84	75	85	73	87	73	15.2	12.6	15.2	15.2	20.2	15.7	8.0	4.3	1.7	2.0	5.0	11.8	126.2
Cayenne
Paraguay:	91	73	82	66	73	56	83	65	5.9	5.2	5.6	5.7	4.7	2.9	2.0	1.9	3.3	5.4	5.7	5.6	54.3
Asuncion
Peru:	69	51	70	49	69	46	71	48	1.1	1.6	0.7	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	4.1
Arequipa
Lima	79	68	76	66	67	60	69	61	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0	0	0.3
Uruguay:	89	70	75	58	63	47	76	57	4.8	4.4	5.4	5.2	3.7	3.4	2.9	2.6	4.1	4.8	4.7	4.1	50.3
Salto
Venezuela:	77	63	82	68	79	68	80	68	*5	*4	*2	*6	*9	*14	*12	*14	*11	*11	*9	*8	*105
Caracas

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Albania:	52	44	62	55	80	73	69	61	*10	*9	*9	*8	*4	*5	*1	*2	*3	*8	*10	*11	*80
Durres
Austria:	36	27	57	41	77	59	57	43	*21	*17	*19	*19	*18	*20	*18	*16	*15	*15	*20	*22	*220
Vienna
Bulgaria:	36	25	58	41	78	58	61	44	1.3	1.4	1.5	2.1	2.7	3.1	2.2	1.7	1.6	1.4	2.0	1.7	22.8
Sofia
Cyprus:	60	45	71	53	89	71	81	61	*15	*13	*12	*9	*6	*2	*1	#	*1	*6	*10	*15	*90
Larnaca
Czech Republic:	34	24	54	36	72	54	54	39	0.8	0.7	1.0	1.4	2.3	2.7	2.6	2.5	1.6	1.2	1.1	0.9	18.8
Prague
Denmark:	37	30	49	36	69	55	53	44	1.7	1.0	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.1	2.6	2.9	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.0	25.4
Copenhagen
Finland:	26	16	45	31	70	53	46	36	1.8	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.7	1.8	2.4	2.9	2.6	2.7	2.6	2.2	24.9
Helsinki
France:	51	37	63	47	84	66	68	52	1.9	1.6	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.0	0.6	1.0	2.5	3.7	3.0	2.3	23.0
Marseille
Paris	43	34	57	42	75	58	59	46	*20	*16	*18	*17	*16	*14	*13	*12	*14	*17	*17	*19	*193
Germany:	35	26	54	37	73	56	56	42	*23	*18	*20	*16	*15	*19	*18	*17	*17	*17	*22	*23	*225
Berlin
Munich	36	24	53	36	72	54	55	40	1.9	1.7	2.1	2.8	4.0	4.9	5.0	4.4	3.3	2.4	2.1	2.0	36.5
Gibraltar:	61	52	66	56	81	68	71	62	4.8	4.2	4.2	2.6	1.5	0.4	0	0.1	1.0	3.0	5.9	5.2	32.8
Gibraltar

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Greece:	55	44	66	52	89	73	73	60	1.9	1.6	1.6	0.9	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.4	2.1	2.2	2.4	14.8
Athens
Hungary:	36	25	60	41	79	59	59	43	*19	*17	*20	*22	*25	*24	*23	*20	*15	*17	*19	*21	*242
Budapest
Iceland:	33	24	40	30	57	47	42	33	2.0	1.6	1.7	1.2	0.7	1.0	1.3	1.4	1.7	2.3	2.0	2.1	18.8
Akureyri
Ireland:	46	37	52	41	66	54	55	46	2.5	2.0	2.0	1.9	2.2	2.2	2.6	3.0	2.5	2.9	2.7	2.7	29.2
Dublin
Italy:	55	39	63	47	83	66	71	56	3.2	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.0	1.3	0.6	1.0	2.7	4.5	4.4	3.8	31.6
Rome
Venice	43	31	61	46	81	65	64	50	2.2	2.1	2.4	2.9	2.7	3.1	2.7	3.1	2.6	3.0	3.5	2.4	32.4
Luxembourg:	36	29	53	38	71	55	54	43	2.6	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.5	2.7	2.8	2.9	30.4
Luxembourg
Netherlands:	41	34	53	40	69	55	57	46	3.1	1.7	3.5	1.5	2.0	2.4	2.9	2.4	3.2	4.1	3.0	2.8	32.1
Amsterdam
Norway:	26	14	45	29	69	50	46	34	2.3	1.9	1.9	1.9	2.3	2.9	3.3	3.8	3.7	3.8	3.5	2.6	34.1
Oslo
Poland:	33	24	54	37	73	55	54	40	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.5	2.0	2.6	3.0	2.8	1.8	1.6	1.5	1.4	21.6
Warsaw
Portugal:	57	45	65	51	82	63	70	57	*16	*16	*15	*16	*13	*9	*5	*4	*8	*13	*15	*17	*147
Lisbon
Romania:	36	23	62	42	82	60	63	43	1.7	1.5	1.4	1.8	2.6	3.4	2.2	2.2	1.4	1.1	1.8	1.6	22.9
Bucharest

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Spain:	51	32	63	42	90	61	68	47	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.8	1.6	1.0	0.4	0.4	1.2	1.8	2.5	1.9	17.8
Madrid
Sweden:	31	22	47	31	70	54	48	38	*25	*20	*21	*20	*17	*18	*20	*19	*20	*20	*23	*25	*248
Stockholm:
Switzerland:	39	29	56	39	77	56	57	43	2.2	2.1	2.4	2.5	3.0	3.2	2.8	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.2	2.6	34.5
Geneva
Turkey:	46	37	60	47	82	66	67	55	3.7	2.8	2.3	1.7	1.2	0.9	0.7	0.6	1.1	2.1	3.5	4.0	25.2
Istanbul
United Kingdom:	45	36	55	41	72	56	58	46	2.4	1.4	2.0	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	2.9	1.8	2.3	23.3
London
Edinburgh	43	33	51	38	66	51	54	42	2.2	1.6	1.9	1.5	2.0	2.0	2.5	2.7	2.5	2.4	2.5	2.4	26.1
U.S.S.R.:	21	11	49	34	71	55	45	33	1.4	1.1	1.3	1.5	2.0	2.6	3.2	2.8	2.3	2.0	1.7	1.7	23.6
Moscow
Volgogran	23	13	57	40	82	64	52	37	1.3	1.1	1.1	0.9	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.0	1.1	1.4	1.6	14.6
Yugoslavia:	38	27	61	43	81	60	63	45	*16	*14	*14	*16	*16	*16	*11	*10	*10	*12	*14	*16	*165
Belgrade
Algeria:	60	45	67	50	85	67	76	59	4.0	3.0	2.8	1.6	1.2	0.6	0.1	0.4	1.3	2.8	2.6	4.3	24.9
Annaba
Botswana:	87	72	79	61	69	45	84	65	3.8	3.3	2.8	1.6	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.6	1.7	2.6	3.5	20.7
Gaborone
C. African Rep.:	84	68	88	74	82	72	83	72	*2	*3	*6	*10	*8	*11	*12	*14	*12	*11	*6	*2	*97
Bangui

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Chad:	86	63	103	81	90	76	96	74	0	0	0	0.3	1.2	2.5	5.9	8.5	3.6	0.9	0	0	23.0
N'Djamena
Dem. Rep. Congo:	84	75	86	75	78	68	84	74	*10	*8	*11	*12	*10	*2	*1	*3	*5	*10	*12	*11	*95
Kinshasa
Rep. of Congo:	85	73	87	74	79	67	85	73	5.4	5.0	7.4	8.2	4.6	0.2	0	0.1	1.5	5.7	9.2	6.6	54.4
Brazzaville
Egypt:	65	49	82	59	93	72	85	65	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.2	1.0
Cairo
Alexandria
64	50	75	58	84	73	81	66	*1	*9	*5	*2	*1	*1	#	#	*1	*2	*5	*8	*4
Ethiopia:	69	53	71	57	65	55	69	54	0.7	1.5	2.7	3.4	3.4	5.2	10.5	11.1	7.3	1.1	0.4	0.4	47.7
Addis Ababa
Ghana:	87	77	87	79	81	75	84	76	0.6	1.1	2.2	3.5	5.3	7.8	2.0	0.7	1.7	2.5	1.3	0.8	29.8
Accra
Guinea:	84	76	86	79	80	76	83	77	*1	*1	*1	*1	*6	*13	*22	*22	*16	*9	*3	*1	*96
Conakry
Ivory Coast:	86	76	87	78	80	74	83	76	*2	*4	*6	*9	*15	*19	*11	*11	*12	*13	*10	*6	*118
Abidjan
Kenya:	87	76	87	77	80	71	84	73	1.1	0.6	2.4	7.2	10.7	4.0	3.2	2.6	2.6	3.6	3.8	2.5	44.4
Mombasa
Nairobi	77	58	76	61	71	54	78	58	1.8	1.7	2.9	6.3	4.7	1.2	0.5	0.5	1.0	1.7	4.7	3.0	29.8
Libya:	63	44	78	54	95	69	84	63	2.7	1.6	1.0	0.5	0.2	0.1	0	0	0.4	1.5	2.4	3.2	13.7
Tripoli

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Morocco:	62	47	66	53	77	68	72	60	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.5	0.8	0.2	0	0	0.2	1.3	2.6	2.9	16.1
Casablanca
Rabat	62	46	67	52	80	65	74	58	3.2	2.7	2.6	2.2	1.0	0.3	0	0	0.3	1.8	3.3	4.0	21.5
Niger:	88	64	104	81	92	76	99	76	#	#	*1	*1	*4	*6	*9	*11	*8	*2	*1	#	*43
Niamey
Nigeria:	82	79	84	81	79	76	80	77	*1	*1	*3	*3	*5	*8	*6	*7	*9	*6	*2	*2	*53
Lagos
Senegal:	75	65	75	66	84	77	86	77	*2	*1	*1	#	*1	*2	*7	*13	*9	*3	*1	*1	*41
Dakar
Sierra Leone:	84	76	86	79	81	76	82	76	0.3	0.3	0.9	3.1	9.3	16.6	23.5	22.0	22.5	11.9	5.4	1.3	118.0
Freetown/Lungi
Somalia:	85	79	87	82	82	78	84	79	0	0	0.3	2.3	2.3	3.1	2.6	1.7	0.8	1.2	1.6	0.3	16.2
Mogadishu
South Africa:	77	63	72	56	62	47	69	54	*6	*5	*6	*9	*12	*13	*14	*13	*11	*9	*7	*7	*112
Capetown
Tanzania:	87	77	85	74	82	67	86	70	2.8	2.5	5.0	10.6	7.2	1.3	1.1	1.0	1.1	1.9	3.3	3.7	41.6
Dar es Salaam
Tunisia:	60	46	68	51	90	69	78	61	2.4	2.1	1.8	1.5	0.9	0.4	0.1	0.3	1.3	2.2	2.1	2.5	17.5
Tunis
Zambia:	78	68	77	63	72	51	85	68	*13	*12	*9	*4	*1	#	#	#	#	*2	*6	*13	*60
Lusaka
Zimbabwe:	78	63	77	59	69	49	80	59	*19	*16	*15	*9	*4	*2	*1	*1	*2	*7	*12	*19	*107
Harare

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
China:	34	17	67	47	86	72	66	47	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.7	1.3	3.1	8.8	6.7	2.3	0.7	0.4	0.1	25.1
Beijing
Guangzhou	64	51	77	67	90	79	82	70	1.6	2.7	3.8	6.7	10.4	10.4	9.7	9.1	6.2	2.5	1.6	1.2	66.6
Hong Kong	67	58	77	69	89	81	83	75	1.1	1.7	2.9	5.5	11.2	15.7	14.3	14.8	11.7	4.7	1.5	1.0	86.2
Shanghai	45	34	65	52	88	77	72	59	1.8	2.4	3.3	3.7	4.1	6.8	5.7	5.4	5.4	2.7	2.1	1.5	45.2
Japan:	28	17	50	37	76	63	60	44	*30	*27	*28	*23	*25	*22	*20	*22	*24	*26	*28	*29	*304
Sapporo
Tokyo	48	35	64	50	82	71	69	58	2.0	2.8	4.2	5.1	5.7	6.9	5.3	5.8	8.5	7.6	3.8	2.1	60.2
Korea:	33	21	62	46	82	71	66	51	*10	*9	*9	*10	*10	*13	*18	*15	*10	*9	*11	*11	*135
Seoul
Taiwan:	66	55	77	65	92	78	80	70	*18	*17	*20	*18	*19	*17	*13	*15	*15	*16	*19	*17	*204
Taipei
U.S.S.R:	15	4	46	36	68	60	52	42	0.4	0.5	0.9	1.7	2.6	3.6	4.2	5.8	4.8	2.2	1.2	0.6	28.3
Vladivostok
Brunei:	85	75	90	75	89	74	88	74	*19	*14	*14	*18	*21	*17	*20	*19	*22	*23	*25	*23	*235
Brunei
Burma:	89	65	99	76	85	76	88	77	*1	*1	*2	*2	*17	*26	*28	*28	*22	*13	*6	*1	*147
Rangoon
Indonesia:	83	75	88	76	88	74	89	76	*19	*14	*14	*11	*8	*5	*5	*5	*5	*8	*11	*14	*119
Jakarta

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Laos:	83	64	93	77	88	78	87	75	*2	*1	*3	*5	*13	*17	*17	*19	*14	*7	*2	*1	*101
Vientiane
Philippine Is.:	86	71	93	76	88	76	87	75	0.8	0.4	0.6	1.2	4.9	10.3	15.9	14.4	13.5	7.8	5.3	2.6	77.8
Manila
Singapore:	85	73	88	76	86	76	86	75	9.4	6.5	6.8	6.6	6.7	6.4	5.9	6.7	6.4	7.5	9.8	10.6	89.7
Singapore
Thailand:	89	71	94	80	90	78	89	77	0.4	1.1	1.2	2.8	7.5	6.0	6.2	7.4	12.6	9.1	2.3	0.4	57.1
Bangkok
Viet Nam:	66	58	80	71	90	80	82	73	*15	*16	*20	*17	*16	*16	*14	*15	*12	*12	*10	*6	*169
Hamoi
Afghanistan:	36	23	65	48	88	67	69	45	1.3	2.1	2.8	2.6	0.8	0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.8	10.7
Kabul
Bangladesh:	76	58	89	77	87	81	87	77	0.3	0.8	2.3	4.6	10.5	14.1	15.7	12.5	10.1	6.4	1.2	0.2	77.9
Dhaka
India:	85	65	90	77	85	79	90	76	0	0	0	0	0.5	22.3	25.6	19.2	14.0	3.5	0.2	0	83.3
Bombay
Calcutta	77	57	95	77	89	80	88	76	0.3	0.8	1.2	1.6	4.6	11.9	13.1	10.4	11.7	4.4	1.2	0.4	60.2
New Delhi	68	48	95	72	93	81	90	68	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.4	0.6	2.7	7.9	7.9	4.8	0.7	0.1	0.4	27.7
Iran:	41	29	71	54	97	78	74	58	1.7	1.5	1.5	1.3	0.6	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.4	1.0	1.2	9.3
Tehran
Iraq:	58	38	84	59	110	78	91	60	1.1	1.1	1.1	0.7	0.3	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.8	1.0	6.1
Baghdad

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Israel:	51	40	68	50	81	64	74	58	5.5	4.4	4.6	0.7	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.4	2.7	5.1	23.0
Jerusalem
Tel Aviv	62	46	77	54	87	69	83	63	*15	*13	*11	*6	*3	*1	#	#	*1	*5	*9	*14	*78
Jordan:	52	39	71	51	88	67	79	58	2.5	2.5	1.7	0.7	0.1	0	0	0	0	0.2	1.1	1.9	10.8
Amman
Kuwait:	63	46	89	67	112	87	93	70	*7	*6	*9	*6	*3	#	#	#	#	*3	*4	*8	*46
Kuwait
Lebanon:	61	50	71	58	84	73	80	68	7.4	6.0	3.8	2.0	0.7	0.1	0	0	0.2	1.9	4.7	6.9	34.1
Beirut
Oman/Muscat:	76	65	92	79	100	88	92	79	*3	*5	*4	*2	*1	*1	*1	*1	*1	*1	*1	*3	*24
Muscat
Pakistan:	66	45	93	72	98	86	90	69	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.4	0.5	0.4	2.2	1.3	0.5	0	0.1	0.3	7.0
Multan
Saudi Arabia:	67	48	90	68	109	84	94	69	0.5	0.4	1.2	1.2	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	0.4	4.3
Riyadh
Sri Lanka:	86	74	88	79	85	80	85	78	3.3	2.5	4.5	10.0	13.2	7.5	5.1	3.8	6.2	13.9	12.1	6.0	87.8
Colombo
Syria:	53	33	74	46	96	62	81	49	1.5	1.3	0.9	0.5	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.4	1.0	1.7	7.6
Damascus
Turkey:	35	20	60	38	82	55	65	39	*16	*15	*15	*17	*17	*13	*7	*5	*5	*10	*12	*16	*148
Ankara

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Australia:	82	60	72	53	59	44	70	51	0.7	0.7	0.8	1.5	2.3	2.1	2.5	2.0	1.7	1.4	1.0	0.9	17.7
Adelaide
Alice Springs	97	70	82	55	67	39	87	59	1.4	1.6	1.5	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.8	1.0	1.4	10.9
Canberra	82	55	67	44	52	32	67	43	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.1	1.9	1.5	1.6	1.9	2.0	2.6	2.4	2.1	24.8
Melbourne	79	56	68	51	55	41	66	47	1.8	1.6	1.4	1.9	1.9	1.6	1.5	2.0	1.8	2.3	2.4	1.9	22.3
Perth	89	62	77	55	64	46	72	50	0.3	0.5	0.6	1.8	4.2	6.9	6.4	4.6	2.7	1.9	1.0	0.5	31.5
Sydney	79	65	73	57	62	44	72	55	4.0	4.5	5.2	4.2	3.9	5.2	2.5	3.2	2.2	3.1	3.4	3.1	44.5
Tasmania:	72	53	64	47	54	39	63	45	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.9	1.8	1.4	1.8	1.8	1.6	2.2	1.9	2.1	21.1
Hobart
New Zealand:	73	62	66	56	56	47	62	52	2.8	3.4	3.1	3.8	4.5	5.0	5.2	4.4	3.7	3.7	3.2	3.1	45.6
Auckland
Wellington	67	58	61	53	51	45	57	49	3.1	3.1	3.4	3.9	4.8	4.9	5.5	4.8	3.9	4.1	3.5	3.5	48.4
Pacific Islands:	80	66	82	69	87	73	86	72	3.4	2.6	2.8	1.3	1.0	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.7	2.0	2.6	3.5	21.6
Honolulu, Hawaii
Pago Pago, Samoa	87	76	86	76	83	75	85	76	13.6	12.8	11.4	12.9	10.0	6.4	6.4	7.1	7.0	10.3	11.4	14.4	123.8
Tahiti, Society Is.:	86	75	86	75	82	71	83	73	11.9	9.2	6.9	5.2	4.1	2.7	2.3	1.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	10.6	67.2

COUNTRY AND STATION	TEMPERATURE (F)								AVERAGE PRECIPITATION INCHES OR *WET DAYS # LESS THAN .5 DAYS
	AVERAGE DAILY								JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER	YEAR
	JANUARY		APRIL		JULY		OCTOBER
	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MINIMUM
Bahamas:	74	64	80	69	88	79	84	73	2.3	2.3	2.6	2.1	5.6	6.5	5.6	8.1	9.9	6.7	3.4	3.0	58.0
Freeport
Nassau	77	64	81	69	89	77	85	74	1.9	1.7	1.6	2.6	5.2	7.0	6.0	6.7	7.1	6.7	2.8	1.7	50.6
Dominican Rep.:	81	70	82	72	87	77	86	76	7.6	6.1	4.8	6.2	5.0	2.4	2.8	3.2	3.6	5.4	11.5	11.0	70.6
Puerto Plata
Santo Domingo	82	70	84	73	86	76	86	75	2.2	1.7	1.9	3.0	7.0	6.1	6.1	6.4	6.8	6.5	4.4	2.5	54.5
Cayman Is.:	81	73	84	76	88	80	86	78	*4	*3	*3	*2	*5	*5	*6	*7	*7	*7	*6	*4	*59
Grand Cayman
Haiti:	87	75	88	78	92	81	89	79	1.3	2.0	3.1	6.1	8.6	3.8	2.9	5.5	6.5	6.5	3.3	1.4	52.1
Port-au-Prince
Jamaica:	86	74	87	76	90	79	89	78	1.2	0.9	0.9	1.5	4.1	3.8	1.8	4.2	5.0	6.8	3.8	1.6	35.4
Kingston
Montego Bay	82	72	85	74	88	77	87	76	2.7	1.8	2.3	2.5	5.9	5.5	2.9	5.2	6.1	7.4	5.5	3.6	50.7
Puerto Rico:	83	71	85	74	87	78	86	76	*2	*2	*3	*2	*4	*3	*3	*4	*5	*6	*5	*2	*41
Ponce
San Juan	83	70	86	73	88	76	88	75	3.0	2.2	2.3	3.7	6.1	4.4	4.5	5.3	5.3	5.5	5.8	4.7	52.9
Virgin Is.:	84	73	86	76	89	80	88	78	*4	*4	*3	*3	*4	*3	*4	*5	*5	*5	*6	*5	*51
St. Thomas
Christiansted	83	73	84	76	88	80	87	78	*4	*4	*4	*4	*5	*4	*5	*5	*6	*6	*7	*6	*60