2011 Rainfall in La Ceiba, Honduras

My tropical-sized 24-inch rain gauge

In the past, I lamented that there was no official rain measurements for La Ceiba so I was determined to do my own unofficial measurements for my own information. 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. It took me a while to get a tropical sized rain gauge — I had to have my own made. Prior to that, I made an effort but between the small gauges overflowing during the day and dogs knocking over or eating the plastic gauges, it was hopeless. Now I have the dog-proof 24" rain gauge shown above.

I don't have one of those fancy electronic weather stations, but, hey, it's better than nothing, right? So continuing La Gringa's official unofficial rain statistics for La Ceiba, here you go:

Monthly Rainfall La Ceiba, Honduras Inches

Month	2012	2011	2010	2009	Average
Jan	0.00	25.75	30.56	20.13	25.48
Feb	0.00	8.88	16.63	9.13	11.54
March	0.00	2.62	20.88	4.38	9.29
April	0.00	0.00	4.38	7.25	3.88
May	0.00	0.69	3.75	4.06	2.83
June	0.00	6.12	6.88	2.75	5.25
July	0.00	9.12	12.13	8.00	9.75
Aug	0.00	7.38	8.75	14.25	10.13
Sept	0.00	9.75	19.0	4.13	10.96
Oct	0.00	21.81	12.63	16.50	16.98
Nov	0.00	17.00	17.63	25.00	19.88
Dec	0.00	16.13	13.31	12.19	13.87
Totals	000.00	125.25	166.50	127.75	139.83

For those who think in centimeters instead of inches, check out the centimeter chart on my Rainfall page.

The most unusual La Ceiba, Honduras, rainfall activity in 2011 was a severe drought in the spring time. Our rainy season is roughly September through March and May is usually the month with the least rainfall, but in 2011, we had not a drop of rain for a 48 day period from March 19 through May 5. We had a few sprinkles in May but no real tropical rain until June 6 when we received a much appreciated (by the thirsty tropical plants) 1.5 inches.

The days with the largest amount of rain were January 15 with 9.5 inches, January 22 and 28 with 3.5 inches each, February 11 with 5.5 inches, September 10, 3 inches, October 7, 3.75 inches, December 9, 5.25 inches, and December 10, 3.25 inches. The largest rainfall day is much reduced from the past in which I recorded 16 inches in December 2008.

The number of rain days per month were: January 12 days, February 7 days, March 4 days, April 0, May 4 days, June 7 days, July 22 days, August 11 days, September 13 days, October 18 days, November 18 days, and December 21 days, for a total of 137 days. Many of these days, however, were just a light afternoon sprinkle that dried up in 10 minutes.

This part of Honduras totally missed the severe tropical storms and hurricanes this year and we had no lengthy periods of heavy rain days. I think we only had one or two days of mopping up rainwater from leaky windows this year. What a treat!

Weather in general

I have a little weather widget in the sidebar which gives the current La Ceiba temperature and "real feel" (in the far right column, about 6 clicks down). You can also click the links in the widget to get the Accuweather forecast.

My monthly rainfall tables (in inches and centimeters) can be found on this page. I keep a daily chart but usually only update this page at the end of the month.

How is the weather in La Ceiba? gives an overview of the weather in this part of the country and links to a good overview of Honduras weather — which despite what many websites imply, is not the same all over the country. "When is the rainy season?" cannot be answered without first asking "What part of the country?". Here is an overview from Countries of the World:

Although all of Honduras lies within the tropics, the climatic types of each of the three physiographic regions differ. The Caribbean lowlands have a tropical wet climate with consistently high temperatures and humidity, and rainfall fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The Pacific lowlands have a tropical wet and dry climate with high temperatures but a distinct dry season from November through April. The interior highlands also have a distinct dry season, but, as is characteristic of a tropical highland climate, temperatures in this region decrease as elevation increases.

And to skim through everything I've written on weather (and earthquakes), check out the 'weather' topic.