Drz1111 Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Northern tip of Venezuela/Colombia is remarkably arid - not even semi-arid. Has sand dunes, cacti, the whole nine yards. There isn't an obvious topographic reason that it is so arid - there is some elevation to trigger convection off the trades, SSTs aren't super cool. If you go ~100mi in any landward direction, precipitaiton totals rise dramatically. Anyone know why it is a desert? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmx Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Well, Lake Maracaibo is one of the rainiest places on Earth, with lightning around 50% of the year...there's probably some connection there (convergence, subsidence relationship?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drz1111 Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 Well, Lake Maracaibo is one of the rainiest places on Earth, with lightning around 50% of the year...there's probably some connection there (convergence, subsidence relationship?) Sure, but <10" of annual precip? With no obvious rain shadow or cold SSTs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illinois Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Northern tip of Venezuela/Colombia is remarkably arid - not even semi-arid. Has sand dunes, cacti, the whole nine yards. There isn't an obvious topographic reason that it is so arid - there is some elevation to trigger convection off the trades, SSTs aren't super cool. If you go ~100mi in any landward direction, precipitaiton totals rise dramatically. Anyone know why it is a desert?The smart a** answer is of course lack of rain is why it is a desert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskaETC Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 This might help explain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guajira_Peninsula Apparently the entire area is a meeting place for warm/cool air, which also explains the Catatumbo lightning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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