A rainy season (also known as a wet season) is the time of year where the majority of a country’s or region’s annual precipitation occurs. Find out when and where in the world they happen.
What is a rainy season?
For many countries of the world, seasons are defined by temperature, with warm summer months and cold winter months. However, for others which lie nearer to the equator, the seasons become defined by wetter weather or drier weather, as the temperatures vary little during the year.
A country’s rainy season (also known as a wet season) is the time of year where the majority of a country’s or region’s annual precipitation occurs. The term ‘rainy season’ can mean different things depending on what part of the world you’re in. For example, the rainy season in India is controlled by the monsoon, making for persistent heavy rains. Whereas the rainy season in Cuba is related to the occurrence of heavy evening thunderstorms and infrequent but intense tropical cyclones (hurricanes).
A monsoon is a reversal of the mean wind direction and with it come changes to the climate of a region. The onset and strength of a monsoon are hard to predict, but once they start the altered winds can remain in place for months. Monsoons can often bring significant rainfall increases but this is dependent on the geography of the particular place. The rain associated with monsoons can differ depending on where you are, but precipitation can sometimes last for days without stopping.
