Climate
Although the country lies wholly within the tropics, its climate varies from tropical humid to alpine, depending on the elevation, topography, and the direction and intensity of prevailing winds. Seasonal variations are marked less by temperature than by rainfall. Most of the country has a distinct rainy season; the rainy period (May through November) is commonly referred to as winter and the remainder of the year as summer.
The country falls into four horizontal temperature zones based primarily on elevation. In the tropical zone—below 800 m (2,600 ft) —temperatures are hot, with yearly averages ranging between 26 and 28 °C (79 and 82 °F). The temperate zone ranges between 800 and 2,000 m (2,600 and 6,600 ft) with averages from 12 to 25 °C (53.6 to 77 °F); many of Venezuela's cities, including the capital, lie in this region. Colder conditions with temperatures from 9 to 11 °C (48 to 52 °F) are found in the cool zone between 2,000 and 3,000 m (6,600 and 9,800 ft). Pastureland and permanent snowfield with yearly averages below 8 °C (46 °F) cover land above 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the high mountain areas known as the páramos.
Average yearly rainfall amounts in the lowlands and plains range from a semiarid 430 mm (17 in) in the western part of the Caribbean coastal areas to around 1,000 mm (39 in) in the Orinoco Delta. Rainfall in mountainous areas varies considerably; sheltered valleys receive little rain, but slopes exposed to the northeast trade winds experience heavy rainfall. Caracas averages 750 mm (30 in) of precipitation annually, more than half of it falling from June through August.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Venezuela
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“When we consider how much climate contributes to the happiness of our condition, by the fine sensation it excites, and the productions it is the parent of, we have reason to value highly the accident of birth in such a one as that of Virginia.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“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)
“The climate of Ohio is perfect, considered as the home of an ideal republican people. Climate has much to do with national character.... A climate which permits labor out-of-doors every month in the year and which requires industry to secure comfort—to provide food, shelter, clothing, fuel, etc.—is the very climate which secures the highest civilization.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)