Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
45
1146
Baguio City,
Philippines
1016
40
35
889
30
762
25
635
508
20
381
15
Lagos, Nigeria
254
10
Blaenau
Ffestiniog, U.K.
Cleveland, Ohio
127
5
Shoeburyness, U.K.
H5 Jordan
0
1.001
0
1.1
1.5
2
5
10
20
50
100
200
300
1000
Return period (years)
Figure 4.14
Rainfall/duration/frequency plots for daily maximum rainfalls in respect of a range of stations
from the Jordan desert to an elevation of 1482m in the monsoonal Philippines.
Source: After Rodda (1970); Linsley and Franzini (1964); Ayoade (1976).
2
The west coast maxima of mid-latitudes associ-
ated with the storm tracks in the westerlies.
The precipitation in these areas has a high
degree of reliability.
3
The dry areas of the subtropical high pressure
cells, which include not only many of the
world's major deserts but also vast oceanic
expanses. In the Northern Hemisphere, the
remoteness of the continental interiors extends
these dry conditions into mid-latitudes. In
addition to very low average annual totals (less
than 150mm), these regions have considerable
year-to-year variability.
4
Low precipitation in high latitudes and in
winter over the continental interiors of the
Northern Hemisphere. This reflects the low
vapor content of the extremely cold air. Most
of this precipitation occurs in solid form.
Figure 4.16
demonstrates why the subtropics
do not appear as particularly dry on the meri-
dional profile in spite of the known aridity of
the subtropical high pressure areas (see Chapter
10). In these latitudes, the eastern sides of the
continents receive considerable rainfall in
summer.
