A Hydrometeorological Analysis of Venezuelan Rainfall *

Abstract

A meteorological analysis is made of the general rainstorm of June 9–12, 1945, which produced substantial streamflow measurements over the Rio Tuy drainage basin of Venezuela. In this storm it appears that the intertropical convergence zone (ITC), in combination with the orography of the basin, was the weather model responsible for the rain. There is shown to be a high correlation (a coefficient of 0.73) between the mean-annual-rainfall pattern and that of the June 9–12 storm. The same correlation coefficient is found between the mean-annual pattern and that of another storm which occurred between June 28 and July 2, 1945. It is concluded that most general rainstorms over the Rio Tuy Basin occur when the ITC, oriented such that the trade winds are blowing almost directly from the east, lies just south of the basin; that the isohyetal patterns which result are very much alike; and that the magnitude of the rainfall varies with the strength of the trade-wind current flowing over the basin.