Several places in Africa experience excessive annual rainfall rates, considering the difference between the highest percentile of daily accumulated rainfall and historical data records (1960–2016) of manual and tipping bucket gauges.
The countries discussed below tend to give “behind the surface” information concerning the part of Africa with heavy rainfall rates.
We will highlight these places based on the yearly and monthly precipitations. Join the train as we delve into the fourteen (14) regions in Africa with substantial rainfall rates.
1. San Antonio de Ureca, Equatorial Guinea
San Antonio de Ureca, a town in Bioko Sur Equatorial guinea called Ureka or Ureca, is the world’s wettest place and precisely the wettest in the African continent.
All the months of the year attract heavy rainfall in the country except November to March. However, the rain is higher on the coast than inland.
Why does it rain so much in San Antonio de Ureca?
The massive rain in San Antonio de Ureca results from the rising air above the equator, which causes a wet equatorial climate.
How much does it rain in San Antonio de Ureca?
The town is one of the wettest areas worldwide as it receives more than 10,450 millimeters every year.
The month with heavy rainfall
The rainfall is much higher on the coast than the inland and the wettest month is late April to October, while the driest is from December to March.
2. Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa in Kenya has two rainy seasons categorized as prolonged rain from March to May and short rain from October to December.
Why Mombasa has huge rainfall rates
Mombasa is one of the African countries with colossal rainfall. The average rain per year is 1072.7mm, and the country experiences 101 days of rainfall yearly and eight days of precipitation per month.
Temperature in Mombasa
The temperature in Mombasa is not irregular, but it varies from 71 degrees Fahrenheit to 89 degrees Fahrenheit and is rarely below 69°F or above 91°F.
Months with least and heavy rainfall
March, April, May, October, November, and December are significant months with heavy rainfall.
February has the least rain with 0.5 inches, and May has been the month with the heaviest rainfall, approximately 5.4 inches.
Where in Mombasa experience high rainfall rate
The rainfall rate in Mombasa is abundant around the coast and in the southwest, ranging from 31 to 79 inches per year.
Rainfall in Mombasa occurs mainly in the afternoon and evening in the form of downpours or thunderstorms.
3. Debundscha, Cameroon
Debundscha, which lies in the western highlands behind the giant mount Cameroon, experiences a yearly rainfall of more than 10,000mm.
The reason Debunscha has huge rainfall rates
Debunscha has a massive rainfall throughout the year because its coastal location is behind a giant mountain with an elevation of 13,435 ft.
The high mountain rises and cools the wet air, leading to rainfall of a veritable deluge in Debunscha.
Months with massive rainfall in Debunscha
The season with heavy rainfall in Debunscha is called Monsoon, and it lasts from June to September.
Monsoon signifies the wind that carries weighty rains to southern Asia. The main distinctiveness of this season includes high heat, wide clouding, high humidity, and spells of modest to heavy rain with strong surface winds.
Amount of rainfall in the country
The wet climate in Debunscha is exceedingly, and it has an annual rainfall of over 10,299 millimeters.
4. Drakensberg, South Africa
The Drakensberg, which means Dragon Mountain is an urban area in Natal and Lesotho with over 200 Km Mountain range and an average of 16 to 18 precipitations in a month.
The Drakensberg, referred to as Thadentsonyane or Mount Ntlenyana, is among the rainiest places in Africa, especially the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg.
Why there is too much rain in the Drakensberg
The level of rainfall in Drakenberg is attributed to the mountain’s altitude because the airbox rises due to increasing height on the windward side of the hill.
Thus, the air parcels get cool, condensed, and pour out heavily.
In other words, an increase in altitude brings about an increase in the number of rainfalls.
Wettest month in Drakensberg
The wettest month in the Drakensberg is between December and January (4.09″ avg), the hottest month is February, whereas the coldest month is June, and November is the windiest month.
The annual rainfall in the Drakensberg
The yearly precipitation in the Drakensberg region is about 589.6 millimeters, with 18 days of rain per month, especially in January.
5. Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is among the places in Africa and the world with extreme rainfall events.
The primary characteristic of its tropical climate is torrential rainfalls.
Why does it rain hugely in Freetown?
The tropical climate in Freetown made it easy for the country to experience excess rainfall from May to November in the north then April to November in the south.
Months with the highest rainfall in the country
Freetown, Sierra Leone, observes two separate seasons known as rainy and dry seasons, and the rainy season starts from May to November though the wettest of them all in August.
How long does it rain in Freetown, Sierra?
The yearly rainfall in Freetown is noticeably 2945.3 millimeters [116 inches] or 245.4 millimeters [9.7 inches] in a month.
6. Monrovia, Liberia
Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city, is amongst the places in the continent and around the world with colossal rainfall.
It is so because the West African Monsoon causes very high rainfalls on the coastline of West Africa.
The reason behind the massive rainfall in Monrovia
The most probable reason there is heavy rainfall in Monrovia is that the area is near the equator.
Again, regular solar heating produces severe heating, moist rising air, and large-scale evaporation, causing convectional rainfall and air masses to converge, resulting in heavy rain.
Specific month in Monrovia with extreme rainfall
With an average of 18.1 days, August is the only month with the most days of the highest rainfall rate.
Average rainfall in Monrovia Liberia
Monrovia gets an average of 4624 millimeters of rainfall in a year, 385.3 millimeters in a month, and 15.2 days of rain in a month.
7. Libreville Gabon
Libreville, located in the northern part of the coast, has an annual precipitation of approximately 3,000 millimeters, unlike every other city.
What is the total rainfall of Libreville in a year?
The annual precipitation in Libreville is 2731 millimeters [107.5 inches], and the average temperature is 25.5 °C ( 77.9 °F).
The wettest month in Libreville
On average, the month with the most rainfall in Libreville is November, as it has 490.0 millimeters [19.29] inches.
8. Congo River Basin, Congo
Congo River Basin (CRB), located in central Equatorial Africa, is among the major convective districts on the planet and one of the rainiest places in Africa.
Why does Congo River Basin receive too much rainfall?
The continual rainfall occurs in the city with the help of the Indian Ocean and evaporation from the Congo Basin.
CRB is the region with the highest lightning strike regularity in the world.
The type of rainfall that takes place in the Congo Basin
In Congo Basin, the rainfall is issued bi-modally in the annual cycle, having two wet seasons (March, April, May) and (September, October, November) with two dry seasons (June, July, August) and December, January, February).
The climatic condition of the Congo River Basin
The climate of the Congo River Basin is frequently warm/hot, humid, and rainy, and the temperatures are regularly in the 70s to 80s. A lot of areas of the Congo River Basin encompasses rainforest mainly.
9. East Coast of Madagascar
Madagascar, sited off the eastern coast of southern Africa, has 39 to 59 inches of rainfall in the year 1000 to 1500 millimeters.
Where in Madagascar does the heaviest rainfall occur?
The heaviest rainfall in Madagascar crops up on the coastal region with an average yearly downpour between 2,030 and 3250 millimeters.
Why Madagascar has no real dry season
Madagascar does not experience dry season on the east coast though there is likely to be short and light rain around June, July, august because the region is directly exposed to trade winds.
The average temperature of Madagascar east coast
The lowest temperatures on the east coast average around 73 F / 23 C, and uppermost temperatures reach 90 F / 32 C.
Rainiest month on Madagascar’s east coast
The rainiest and wettest month in Madagascar’s east coast is the month of March, and it also extends from November to April though with lower frequency, unlike March.
10. Mozambique
Mozambique has been experiencing heavy rain and wind for some while, and this steady rainfall affects cities like Zambezi, Niassa, Sofala, etc.
However, Quelimane and Beira are the central parts of the coast that experience some brief showers yearly.
Yearly rainfall rate in Mozambique
The rainfall in Mozambique follows a north-south slope and the yearly average is between 800 and 1200 millimeters.
Wettest month in Mozambique
The month with much rainfall in Mozambique is December, January, February, March, and it comes with temperatures of about 30°C/86°F.
11. Kenya
Kenya has plentiful rainfall along the coast and southwest of the nation and is a heavy rain zone.
The rate of rainfall in Kenya
Kenya has yearly precipitation of 680 millimeters, but the coast, a rainfall zone, has an average rainfall of 1,135mm millimeters per year (according to 1990 – 2015 data).
The month with heavy and short rainfall in Kenya
Kenya receives two rainy seasons called short and prolonged rain, where the long one starts from March to May and short October to December.
12. Ethiopia
No doubt, Ethiopia is one of the major countries in Africa with colossal rainfall as it pours heavily on the Kiremt.
The Kiremt is the wettest period in Ethiopia, and during this season, it pours from June to September.
Average rainfall in Ethiopia
The rainfalls in Ethiopia usually occur during the afternoon or evening, and their millimeters are from 1000mm to 2,200mm.
13. Rwanda
Rwanda has a high downpour of rainfall at the heart of Africa and south of the equator.
The month with heavy rainfall in Rwanda
Rwanda usually has a heavy and persistent prolonged rainfall of 1,164mm around March and May, albeit it rains huge in April.
Frequency of rainfall in Rwanda
Rwanda has frequent rainfall all through the year, with an average yearly precipitation of 40 inches.
14. Ghana
Ghana has a tropical climate and two seasons, making it easy for rain to pour heavily in the country.
Raining season in Ghana
Ghana has two main rainy seasons: the heavy one from April to June, while the shorter rain is around September and October, with an average annual rainfall of 1,169mm.
Why does it rain so much in Ghana?
The continuous rainfall in Ghana results from its dry season being winter while its rainy season is in summer, which is possible due to the African monsoon.
Do you know why rainfall measurement is in millimeters?
Rainfall is measured in millimeters because it is enormously variable in time and location, making it more difficult.
Yet again, we can collect measurements with a rain gauge that expresses in mm.
It is good to note one millimeter of rainfall is comparable to one liter of water per square meter.
What are some of Africa’s wettest areas?
Some areas in Africa that are the wettest include mount Cameroon, Douala city, Gulf of Guinea, and Debunscha.
Which African countries have rain all year?
The African countries with an all-year-round rain are only the equatorial countries like Gabon, the DRC, and the republic of the Congo.
What parts of Africa get the most rainfall?
African countries with the most rainfall comprise Madagascar, Congo Basin, Central Africa, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
Conclusion
Most of the places discussed above are situated around the equator, causing continuous rainfall in these regions.
Please read all details to know the cause behind the steady rainfall, the wettest month in these countries, and their annual precipitation.
