A preliminary 10-year precipitation climatology of Rio de Janeiro is elaborated by means of the Geo-Rio Foundation rain gauge network. The spatial distribution of annual precipitation shows that the maxima coincide with the three hills in the city: Carioca (2200 mm), Mendanha (1400 mm) and Geral de Guaratiba (1200 mm). The precipitation values decrease toward the plain, with minimum values in the Northern Zone. The precipitation is greater at the Sumaré gauge than in all the other places throughout the year, especially in September when the monthly mean precipitation (297.5 mm) is seven times greater than the precipitation in other Northern Zone stations. For example, rain occurs 119 days per year at Sumaré; at Penha it occurs only 86 days per year. The anaylsis of the intense events shows that 77% of the 160 selected events were caused by frontal systems, which occur throughout the year, though less frequently in winter. South Atlantic Convergence Zone events (13%) and Mesoscale Convective Systems (8%) occurred predominantly in summer. Rainfall caused by a sea breeze circulation occurred only in 2% of cases.
precipitation; climatology; extreme events; Rio de Janeiro
