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La Nina Rainfall Patterns
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Published January 23, 2008
La Niña, the counterpart to El Niño, alters rainfall patterns over the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. La Niña develops when stronger-than-average trade winds push the warm surface waters of the equatorial Pacific west. Since cold water rises to replace the warm water, La Niña leaves the eastern and central Pacific Ocean much cooler than normal, while the western Pacific is much warmer than normal. These anomalies in sea surface temperature are mirrored in rainfall patterns, with warmer-than-normal temperatures resulting in enhanced rainfall. In general, La Niña brings unusually heavy rain to the West Pacific, Indonesia, parts of Southeast Asia, and northern Australia.
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Small Tropical Cyclones Contribute More to Annual Rainfall
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Published January 19, 2008
Though relatively infrequent, tropical cyclones make a significant contribution to the seasonal accumulation of rainfall in the southeastern United States. In a recent study, Dr. Marshall Shepherd and collaborators at the University of Georgia found that tropical storm systems contribute an average of 13 percent of the total rainfall during the hurricane season.
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Heavy Rainfall Floods Indonesia
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Published January 8, 2008
Persistent heavy rains led to flooding and landslides throughout Indonesia in late December 2007 and early January 2008, resulting in numerous fatalities and crop losses. The most heavily populated island in the chain, Java, was the hardest hit—at least 112 people died on the island from flooding or landslides.
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Torrential Rain in China
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Published June 14, 2007
Patterns running from pale green to deep blue are draped over southern China, showing rainfall totals for the week of June 4 through June 11, 2007. Though seasonal rains are not unexpected in the area, the rain that fell during the week was torrential and relentless. As the image shows, a broad stretch of China received up to 200 millimeters of rain, and some areas were inundated with up to 500 millimeters.
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Rain in the U.S. Midwest
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Published May 9, 2007
The powerful storms that moved across the U.S. Midwest during the first week of May 2007 brought wind, hail, tornadoes, and drenching rain. More than 400 millimeters of rain fell over some regions.
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