Climate

Over 90% of the country of Brazil is within the tropical zone. Despite this fact the climate of Brazil varies significantly from the tropical North, to more temperate zones to the South. Brazil has five climatic regions which are: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical and subtropical.

 

Near the equator there is little variation of temperature and precipitation throughout the seasons. The temperature stays high averaging 25 degrees Celsius. In the more temperate areas of Brazil, the summer temperatures can reach as high as 40 degrees Celsius. At the other end of the country temperatures vary much more. There is frost in the winter months (June-August) South of the Tropic of Capricorn, and sometimes even snow in areas with mountains.

 

 

The precipitation levels in Brazil vary a great deal. The majority of Brazil has moderate rainfall of between 1,000 and 1,500 millimeters a year. Most of the rain falls south of the Equator in the summer months between December and April. However, in the Amazon region, the annual rainfall is more. This region contains almost half of the world’s rainforests along with one of the longest rivers in the world, the Amazon River. The precipitation here averages 2,000 millimeters annually, and can reach as much as 3,000 millimeters in some western parts of the region. Even though the Amazon region has high annual rainfall, it still has a three to five month dry season which varies throughout the year.

.