Climate
Because of its altitude, the country remains cooler throughout the year than most other regions at the same latitude. Lesotho has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Maseru and its surrounding lowlands often reach 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer. Winters can be cold with the lowlands getting down to −7 °C (19.4 °F) and the highlands to −20 °C (−4.0 °F) at times.
The yearly precipitation varies from around 600 millimetres (23.6 in) in the lowland valleys to around 1,200 millimetres (47.2 in) in areas of the northern and eastern escarpment bordering South Africa. Most of the rain falls as summer thunderstorms: 85% of the annual precipitation falls between the months of October and April. The winters—between May and September are usually very dry. Snow is common in the deserts and low valleys between May and September; the higher peaks can experience occasionally significant snowfall year-round. Annual variance in rainfall is quite erratic, which leads to periodic droughts in the dry season (May to September) and flooding, which can be severe in the rainy season (October-April).
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Lesotho
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“The climate has been described as “ten months winter and two months mighty late in the fall.””
—Administration in the State of Colo, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)