A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States, and Okinawa, Japan that fall into the tropical rainforest climate category. They experience high mean annual temperatures, small temperature ranges, and rain that falls throughout the year. Regions with this climate are typically designated ''Af'' by the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

. A tropical rainforest climate is typically hot, very humid, and wet with no dry season.

Description

Tropical rainforests have a type of

(with an average temperature of at least in their coldest month) in which there is no dry season—all months have an average

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

value of at least . There are no distinct wet or dry seasons as rainfall is high throughout the months. One day in a tropical rainforest climate can be very similar to the next, while the change in temperature between day and night may be larger than the average change in temperature during the year.

Equatorial climates and tropical trade-wind climates

When tropical rainforest climates are more dominated by the

Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...

(ITCZ) than the trade winds (and with no or rare cyclones), so usually located near the equator, they are also called equatorial climates. Otherwise, when they are more dominated by the trade winds than the ITCZ, they are called tropical trade-wind climates. In pure equatorial climates, the atmospheric pressure is almost constantly low so the horizontal pressure gradient is low. Consequently, the winds are rare and usually weak (except sea and land breezes in coastal areas) while in tropical trade-wind climates, often located at higher latitudes than the equatorial climates, the wind is almost permanent which incidentally explains why rainforest formations are impoverished compared to those of equatorial climates due to their necessary resistance to strong winds accompanying tropical disturbances.

Cities with tropical rainforest climates

Asia * Malacca - Car Nicobar, India * Balikpapan, Indonesia * Medan, Indonesia * Palembang, Indonesia * Ishigaki, Japan *

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

, Malaysia *

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

, Malaysia *

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia * Davao City, Philippines * Polomolok, Philippines * Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines *

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

* Colombo, Sri Lanka * Ratnapura, Sri Lanka * Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka * Orchid Island, Taiwan * Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand Oceania * Pago Pago, American Samoa * Tubuai, Austral Islands * Kuranda, Queensland, Australia *

Innisfail, Queensland Innisfail (from Irish language, Irish: Inis Fáil) is a regional town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was originally called Geraldton until 1910. In the , the town o ...

, Australia * Palikir, Federated States of Micronesia *

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, Fiji * Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile * Hagåtña, Guam *

Atuona Atuona, located on Atuona Bay on the southern side of Hiva Oa island, French Polynesia, is the administrative centre of the Communes of France, commune (municipality) of Hiva-Oa. Atuona was the capital of all the Marquesas Islands but it has been ...

, French Polynesia * Mata Utu, French Polynesia *

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

, French Polynesia * Tarawa, Kiribati * Majuro, Marshall Islands * Alofi, Niue, New Zealand * Koror, Palau * Tabubil, Papua New Guinea * Lae, Papua New Guinea * Pitcairn Island * Apia, Samoa *

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

, Solomon Islands * Nuku’alofa, Tonga * Funafuti, Tuvalu * Hilo, Hawaii, United States * Port Vila, Vanuatu Africa * Moroni, Comoros *

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

, Kenya * Harper, Liberia * Greenville, Liberia * Antalaha, Madagascar * Manakara, Madagascar * Toamasina, Madagascar *

Victoria, Seychelles Victoria is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Seychelles, situated on the north-eastern side of Mahé, Seychelles, Mahé, the archipelago's main island. The city was first established as the seat of the British Empire, British co ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda Americas * Punta Gorda, Belize * Hamilton, Bermuda * Villa Tunari, Bolivia * Belém, Brazil * Macaé, Brazil * Salvador, Brazil * Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, Colombia * Florencia, Colombia * Leticia, Colombia *

Cocos Island Cocos Island () is a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 15 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Puntarenas Province, Province of ...

, Costa Rica * Limón, Costa Rica * Higüey, Dominican Republic * Puyo, Ecuador * Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana * Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe * Puerto Barrios, Guatemala * Georgetown, Guyana * La Ceiba, Honduras * Port Antonio, Jamaica * Bluefields, Nicaragua * Changuinola, Panama * Iquitos, Peru * Lelydorp, Suriname *

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

, Suriname * Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago * West Palm Beach, Florida, United States * Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

References

{{Koppen Köppen climate types Rainforests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical rainforests Climate, Rainforest

Description

Equatorial climates and tropical trade-wind climates

Cities with tropical rainforest climates

See also

References