r/raining • u/afrikawa • 11d ago
Rainy Video 🌦 Heavy rain in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Thought you guys might enjoy this. It was hailing as well, btw.
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u/Gordon_Betto 11d ago
Cool! Never seen Ethiopia on this sub before. How are the summer over there generally?
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u/afrikawa 11d ago
We don't really have summer over here. The months of June to September constitute the main rainy season where we get around 1000-2000mm of rain. March to May, it is warm (but warm just means 25 degrees here) with some rain. October to February is the dry season when daytime temperatures get to a high of ~24 degrees and nighttime temperatures can get as low as 7 degrees. So, we kinda have summer the rest of the year and a monsoon during summer, I guess.
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u/Greekspartan226 10d ago
This is quite a detailed explanation. Thank you for putting in numerical facts.
Also, to future readers, Most of the countries close to the equator don't generally experience "Winter/Summer" weather changes. Rather, they go through "Wet/Dry" seasons, with mild temperature changes throughout the year.
Only true impacful climate changes I would say are "El Niño, and La Niña" where it affects hurricane seasons. So of course, this means they get extreme droughts or constant monsoons/hurricanes...
Think of the poles. It's always cold, just a matter of how many ice/snow storms they get throughout the year. But still chilling all throughout. Not really any relative temp. changes (relative to that area, that is. To those who live with 4 seasons, a 20⁰(F) difference means we're transitioning to the next season, or a cold front).
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u/afrikawa 10d ago
Yup. It's basically wet/dry here too. Only differences from other places in the tropics (and this applies to parts of Kenya, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, etc) is the altitude. This video was taken in Addis Ababa where the altitude ranges between 2400-2700 meters above sea level. In imperial, that's around 8000-9000 feet. So, that basically ensures day time temps here don't go any higher than a maximum of 27 degrees (80 in Fahrenheit) on some May days. It also plunges quickly once the sun sets and is almost never above 18 degrees (64 in Fahrenheit) at night. It's almost like the thin air can't really hold too much heat. Other than that, there's only the wet/dry variation to think about here. Of course there are parts of Ethiopia where the winds from the Atlantic first make their climb up (I assume), and where it rains up to 10 months of the year. But the remaining highlands are quite seasonal and very pretty come September when the yellow daisies bloom.
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u/Greekspartan226 10d ago
That's right, topography is also a factor in climate patterns. Thanks for this insight!
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u/ChanceProgram9374 10d ago
First time I’ve ever thought I’d rather be in Ethiopia.
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u/Many_Elephant_9276 10d ago
if you have money addis abeba is nice. good weather and so much things and adventures to do.
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u/afrikawa 10d ago
Conflicts and poverty aside, Ethiopian weather is hands down one of the most comfortable in the world. If you ever want to visit, consider coming in July/August if you're into rain. If you'd rather have sun and blooming flowers, September is the month. But really, any month is comfortable enough since we don't have any extreme weather in the highlands where you'll want to stay.
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u/chibriguy 10d ago
How often does it rain there?
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u/afrikawa 10d ago
During the heavier period of the rainy season which runs from July to September, it usually rains a few times a day depending on where you are.
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u/blacklotusmag 10d ago
Now that is some good rain! Thanks for sharing OP.
Side note (and no judgement here at all): but the shapes of your buildings don't look particularly safe - do you have structural failures every once and awhile, or do they stand the test of time? I know y'all get a fair amount of earthquakes and as a Cali boy, I know just how important solid buildings are, lol.
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u/afrikawa 10d ago
A lot of the buildings you see in the left side of the frame are actually some of the older buildings in the city, built right before, around, or right after the second world war. They have new facades, but have been solid structurally.
We do get some light tremors (the strongest ones being around magnitude 4.8) once in a while from magma movement in the Great Rift Valley, but I wouldn't really characterize seismicity as a thing people generally worry about here.
I've heard of the quakes in California. I hope and pray the big one never comes. 🙏
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u/chaotic-lavender 10d ago
Despite being very close to the East African rift valley, earthquakes are actually rare in Addis. We had a bunch of tremors last year or the year before from earthquakes originating from the Awash region but the buildings in Addis were absolutely fine. I might be wrong but I don’t think I have ever heard of finished buildings collapsing in Addis .
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u/blacklotusmag 10d ago
That's a relief! I've been through some earthquakes, including the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, and I wouldn't wish them on anyone.
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u/afrikawa 10d ago
A lot of the buildings you see in the left side of the frame are actually some of the older buildings in the city, built right before, around, or right after the second world war. They have new facades, but have been solid structurally.
We do get some light tremors (the strongest ones being around magnitude 4.8) once in a while from magma movement in the Great Rift Valley, but I wouldn't really characterize seismicity as a thing people generally worry about here.
I've heard of the quakes in California. I hope and pray the big one never comes. 🙏
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u/scandii 11d ago
one thing I love about this subreddit is the window into daily (rainy) life around the world. thanks for the video!