Climate of Costa Rica Eugene S. Takle Professor Department of Agronomy [email protected].

Climate of Costa Rica

Eugene S. Takle

Professor

Department of Agronomy

[email protected]

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?

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclimate.html

Latitude of San Jose: ~9.5o North

Circulation system not to scale!

Mean radius of the earth:6371 km

Height of the troposphere:0-7 km at poles20 km at Equator

90% of atmosphere is in the lowest 15 miles (24 km)99% in lowest 30 miles (48 km)

Non-rotating Earth heated uniformly at its Equator

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclimate.html

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclimate.html

wet

dry

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclimate.html

112 Volcanic formations

Chirippo Grande (12,530 ft)

Volcan Irazu, Costa Rica (11,260 feet)

Cloud base

Cloud Forest

Fog drip can be the dominant form of precipitation

Cloud base

Mountain Precipitation: Moist on windward side, Dry on leeward side

http://www.crtinfo.com/costa_rica_biodiversity.htm

Climate: The climate in Costa Rica varies depending upon elevation and location.

The coastal plains are warm and tropical. Mountainous regions are much cooler and the Central Plateau has a spring-like climate year-round, with little variation in temperature from month to month (the average daily temperature is 75 F or 25 C).

December through April is the dry season, when rain is quite uncommon. May through November is considered the rainy, or "green", season, although mornings are usually quite sunny, with most of the rain falling in afternoon showers.

Cereal grains

Forest

TropicalCash crop

* San Jose

Rice, corn, coffee

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/html/costaricaclimate.html

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Central Valley or plateau around San José has an altitude of 1,165 meters or 3,880 ft.

Climate of Cost Rica• Costa Rica is a tropical country which contains several distinct

climatic zones.• There is no winter or summer as we know it• Most regions of the country have a rainy season from May to

November and a dry season from December to April• Annual rainfall averages 100 inches nationwide with some

mountainous regions getting as much as 25 feet on exposed eastern slopes.

• Temperature is more a matter of elevation than location with a mean of around 72 degrees in the Central Valley, 82 degrees on the Atlantic coast and 89 degrees on the Pacific coast.

For Current Weather Conditions and 10-Day Forecasts:http://www.1costaricalink.com/eng/web/weather.htm

Climate of Cost Rica: Summary

* Because of its location an almost constant temperature of 20ºC or 68ºF all year round, Costa Rica's climate is considered the healthiest climate of the world  according to a NASA research

* Costa Rica has a wide variety of microclimates, depending on your altitude and location relative to the oceans

- Cool, wet and very green mountain ranges (dairy farming)

- rain forests and dry tropical forests- wet Caribbean coast- dry Pacific coast- cloud forests.