La Gringa's tropical-sized rain gaugeLong-time readers have read the saga of La Gringa's rain gauge. If not, you can read a summary of the two-year saga at La Gringa finally gets her rain gauge.
I lamented that there was no official rain measurements in La Ceiba so I was determined to do my own unofficial measurements. Being a former CPA (For the crazies out there: note that is C-P-A, Certified Public Account, not C-I-A), I like numbers, facts, and statistics. Saying, "Man, we had a ton of rain yesterday!" just doesn't do it for me.
I finally have a year of rain data to give you. For those who don't know what an inch is, or those who don't know what a centimeter is, I've given the data in both measurements.
| Month | Amount (in.) | Amount (cm.) |
| January | 20.125 | 51.12 |
| February | 9.125 | 23.18 |
| March | 4.375 | 11.11 |
| April | 7.250 | 18.42 |
| May | 4.063 | 10.32 |
| June | 2.750 | 6.99 |
| July | 8.000 | 20.32 |
| August | 14.250 | 36.20 |
| September | 4.125 | 10.48 |
| October | 16.500 | 41.91 |
| November | 25.000 | 63.50 |
| December | 12.186 | 30.95 |
| Annual total | 127.750 in. | 324.49 cm. |
I actually began keeping the data in December 2008, which was the biggest month I've measured: 26.375 inches (67 cm.). The highest rainfall day that I've recorded so far was also in December 2008, with 16 whooping inches of rain (41 cm.) on December 10, 2008. The highest rainfall day in 2009 was October 19, with 10.75 inches (27 cm.), followed closely by November 27, with 9.25 inches (24 cm.).
The longest that we went without rain in La Ceiba was 29 days, from March 8 to April 7. We had another dry spell of 25 days from April 15 to May 9 and one of 23 days from May 21 to June 12. May is typically the driest month in La Ceiba. It is usually the only month that I have to water the lawn and even then it is often only once or twice.
I don't have any prior year statistics with which to compare this, but my sense is that we had less than the normal amount of rainfall in 2009. That would jive with the rest of country which has experienced a severe drought this year which is badly affecting food crops.
To read more about the drought, water rationing (in Tegucigalpa), and the food shortage, please see Democracy is Hollow without Food to Eat and Mobilizing to the Face of Hunger at HondurasWeekly.
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Best of the weather related articles in which you can hear me sound like Goldilocks (it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too wet, it's too dry!):
40 days and 40 nights (December 2008)
Still hot (September 2008)
How hot is it in La Ceiba? (September 2008)
Tropical rain in La Ceiba (includes video, October 2007)
Hurricanes are good for business (October 2007)
Cold front again, sorry (November 2006)
For a semi-serious discussion of the weather in La Ceiba:
How is the weather in La Ceiba?
And if you want to read all of the weather related (and earthquake) articles:
Weather
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