Weather, Seasons and Climate | Page 4 of 4

Elementary General Science Systems and Interactions Weather, Seasons and Climate

The Two Seasons of the Tropics

In the tropics, there are just two seasons: the wet (or rainy) season and dry season. The weather in the tropics are controlled by the tropical rain belt. During the year, the tropical rain belt moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back again.

When the tropical rain belt in the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere is experiencing a dry season and sparser precipitation. When the tropical rain belt is in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere is experiencing the dry season. Countries located at the equator experience two wet and two dry seasons, as the rain belt passes over twice a year.

Rainy Season

During the rainy season the ground is soaked with water on many days. The grass is green and the streams and rivers are mostly swollen. Some animals retreat to higher grounds to avoid possible flooding. This is the period to expect tropical cyclones, street flooding, and river flooding. In between the rain there may be moments of dry spells (a short period of severe dry weather, less severe than a drought).

Sometimes the gusty winds are strong enough to through down trees or cause some damage to property. There may also be some landslide. However, the amount of rain varies from one area to another in the tropics. Some areas of the topics are wetter than other areas. Some are drier than other areas.

The Amazon gets almost 9 feet of rain every year.

The Sahara desert gets between 2 and 10 centimetres of water every year.

Dry Season

During the dry seasons, hot days are more frequent. The earth gets dry, bare and hot. The leaves fall to the ground and dry faster. Some water holes and rivers may dry up. There are frequent threats for forest fires. With infrequent rain, the collection of surface water may cause an increase in mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases. The lack of water causes some animals to migrate to more fertile spots. On an average month, precipitation is below 60 millimetres or 2.4 inches.