I watch the news and in the weather forecast it's always rainy in central Africa, especially in Addis Ababa. Why is that?
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$\begingroup$ Over what sort of timescale are you looking? It could just be their wet season right now. $\endgroup$– mtb-zaCommented Aug 29, 2015 at 13:54
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$\begingroup$ No you check urself. its always wet no matter what $\endgroup$– user786Commented Aug 29, 2015 at 14:55
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$\begingroup$ Looking at it, the climate seems to be fairly consistent, as a combination of elevation and other things. There are also frequent thunderstorms, which might not last long, but will add to the amount of rainy days. $\endgroup$– mtb-zaCommented Aug 29, 2015 at 15:12
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$\begingroup$ @Alex thats a pretty bold statement - would you be able to provide the historical records showing that it is always raining in Addis Ababa? $\endgroup$– Isopycnal OscillationCommented Oct 27, 2015 at 18:21
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1 Answer
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Addis Ababa lies 9 degrees north of the equator at about 2300 metres in altitude. Its' mean annual rainfall is about 1090 mm, with an average daily probability of rain of about 41%. The inter-tropical convergence zone in this part of East Africa is a little anomalous, but sufficient to bring long rains in July-August, and short rains in March-April. Given the altitude, latitude and synoptic climatology, there is nothing unusual about this rainfall, though as Kwinkunks points out, if you happen to hit an unusually wet 'long rainy season' it might seem unusually wet.
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$\begingroup$ Ethiopians don't think of themselves as 'Central Africans', and the horn of Africa is a very different climatic regime to that of the rest of Central Africa. If the question is posed in the regional sense (not including Addis) then the rainfall is much higher, consistent, more frequent, and typical of tropical rain-forest worldwide, as in the Congo and Amazon rain -forests. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 29, 2015 at 1:48