Climate%20of%20Honduras

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Climate of Honduras

• Eugene S. Takle
• Professor
• Department of Agronomy
• gstakle_at_iastate.edu

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Overview

• Big Picture
• Global circulation
• Global climate perspective
• Regional and local influences
• Local Influences
• How can we explain local conditions in the
  context of global and regional influences?
• Climate change

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Image courtesy of NASA/GSFC
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http//jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclim
ate.html
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http//jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclim
ate.html
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wet
dry
http//jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclim
ate.html
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Tegucigalpa
Elevation 1,007 m
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http//www.honduras-information.hotelhonduras.com/
honduras-climate-weather.html
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Climate of Honduras
Honduras is hot and humid almost year-round.
Temperatures vary by altitude rather than season.
The average high temperature nationwide is 32oC
(90oF) and the average low is 20oC (68oF).
Temperatures are coolest in mountain areas.
http//www.honduras-information.hotelhonduras.com/
honduras-climate-weather.html
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Climate of Honduras
The Caribbean coast can experience a lot of rain,
the heaviest being from September to February. In
Tegucigalpa, the capital, the climate remains
more temperate and the dry season takes place
from December to May. The capital can get chilly
between December and January when the temperature
in the city hovers around 23oC (73oF).
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Climate of Honduras
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.
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Climate of Honduras
Unlike in more northerly latitudes, temperatures
in the tropics vary primarily with elevation
instead of with the season. Both the Caribbean
and Pacific lowlands have daytime highs averaging
between 28o C and 32o C throughout the year. In
the Pacific lowlands, April, the last month of
the dry season, brings the warmest temperatures
the rainy season is slightly cooler, although
higher humidity during the rainy season makes
these months feel more uncomfortable. In the
Caribbean lowlands, the only relief from the
year-round heat and humidity comes during
December or January when an occasional strong
cold front from the north brings several days of
strong northwest winds and slightly cooler
temperatures.
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Climate of Honduras
Tegucigalpa, in a sheltered valley and at an
elevation of 1,000 meters, has a pleasant
climate, with an average high temperature ranging
from 30o C in April, the warmest month, to 25o C
in January, the coolest. Above 2,000 meters,
temperatures can fall to near freezing at night,
and frost sometimes occurs.
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Climate of Honduras
Rain falls year round in the Caribbean lowlands
but is seasonal throughout the rest of the
country. Amounts are copious along the north
coast, especially in the Mosquitia, where the
average rainfall is 2,400 millimeters. Nearer San
Pedro Sula, amounts are slightly less from
November to April, but each month still has
considerable precipitation. The interior
highlands and Pacific lowlands have a dry season,
known locally as "summer," from November to
April. Almost all the rain in these regions falls
during the "winter," from May to September. Total
yearly amounts depend on surrounding topography
Tegucigalpa, in a sheltered valley, averages only
1,000 millimeters of precipitation.
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Climate of Honduras
Honduras lies within the hurricane belt, and the
Caribbean coast is particularly vulnerable to
hurricanes or tropical storms that travel inland
from the Caribbean. Hurricane Francelia in 1969
and Tropical Storm Alleta in 1982 affected
thousands of people and caused extensive damage
to crops. Hurricane Fifi in 1974 was the worst
natural disaster in recent Honduran history
(until Hurricane Mitch, 1998) more than 8,000
people were killed, and nearly the entire banana
crop was destroyed. Hurricanes occasionally form
over the Pacific and move north to affect
southern Honduras, but Pacific storms are
generally less severe and their landfall rarer.
http//countrystudies.us/honduras/37.htm
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Mangroves Protect the Coastline
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Hurricane Mitch 26 Oct - 4 Nov 1998 Deadliest
hurricane in Honduras in 200 years
Monday - October 26th, 1998 - 900 a.m Mitch is
classified in the fifth one - with winds
surpassing 150 mph. Monday - October 26th 1998 -
1200 noon Hurricane Mitch has been upgraded to a
category 5, Sustained winds of 175 MPH have been
reported. Monday - October 26th, 1998 - 215
p.m. Hurricane Mitch is expected to begin hitting
the Bay Islands within one hour of this writing.
Two hours later (0500 local time) it is expected
to reach the mainland of Honduras. The local TV
and radio stations have been constantly warning
citizens of the impending danger and providing
tips. Water, batteries, candles and other
necessary survival items have been sold out in
the few stores that are open at this time (two am
Monday morn). These stores are packed with
customers stocking up on food and other
provisions. Gas stations also are doing a booming
business as drivers fill their tanks in
anticipation of the hurricane. Reports of the
hurricane indicate that it is presently
classified as a number 5 (five) type - which
means winds in excess of 150 mph! We here at
Honduras.com will continue to provide updates of
the impact of Hurricane Mitch as long as our
communication lines stay open ) May God Bless
Honduras and Protect Her!!! By O Ma R Orbison
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http//rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/rsd/images/Mitch/mitch3_m
d.jpg
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http//rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/rsd/images/Mitch/mitch3_m
d.jpg
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IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Summary for Policy
Makers
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IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Summary for Policy
Makers
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IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Summary for Policy
Makers
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Tropical Atlantic Ocean
Hurricane Power Dissipation Index (PDI)
Sea-surface temperature
V
V
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Emanual, Kerry, 2005 Increasing destructiveness
of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years.
Nature, 436, 686-688.
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Is Global Warming Affecting Hurricanes? Kerry
Emanuel
Date/Time Wednesday, 12 Mar 2008 at 700
pm Location Gallery, Memorial Union
Kerry Emanuel is a professor of atmospheric
science at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. His research interests focus on
tropical meteorology and climate, with a
specialty in hurricane physics. Emanuel is the
author or coauthor of over one hundred
peer-reviewed scientific papers and two books,
including Divine Wind The History and Science of
Hurricanes, recently released by Oxford
University Press. It received the 2007 Louis
Battan Author's Award from the American
Meteorological Society. Sigma Xi Spring Lecture.
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Weather Reports Roatan http//www.weatherreports
.com/Honduras/Roatan Tegucigalpa http//www.weathe
rreports.com/Honduras/Tegucigalpa