Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? But everything indicates that more rain falls in CDMX than in the city that is famous for raining all year round: London.
And the data doesn’t lie. According to the website that analyzes climate worldwide, Climate Data, London receives an average of 609 mm of rain per year, distributed almost evenly month by month.
However, our beautiful CDMX receives approximately 1,004 mm of rain per year, but concentrated in only five months! Almost always between June and October, we, the people of Mexico City, have to deal with heavy rains, often accompanied by hail and thunderstorms.
How come there is more rain in CDMX?
The answer lies in geography and atmospheric science. First you should know that the CDMX is located between the two tropics, in addition to being in a valley at high altitude. This generates what meteorologists call “updrafts”.
These currents cause water vapor to rise, cool and condense as it collides with particles in the air, forming liquid water droplets or ice crystals.
Because of this, our main rainfall is ice that melts and falls as liquid or hail. And that is the reason for the giant raindrops we have in the city.
This also explains why thunderstorms are common in CDMX, as friction between ice crystals generates lightning.
London, on the other hand, is at sea level and at a more temperate latitude, which generates much lower clouds that are formed by small droplets of liquid water.
This is why the city is famous for having persistent drizzle, but much less aggressive than the great storms of Tlaloc’s fury.
Clouds in London tend to form very close to the surface, which means that people can literally walk inside them because they are so low.
So the next time you get caught in the rain in the CDMX, remember: it’s no exaggeration, it does rain here more than in London. It just comes all at once, with thunder, lightning and hail included.
All these interesting facts were compiled by physics major Fernanda Torres, and you can find out more science facts on Pulpo Culto‘s Instagram account.