Climate
The climate is characterized as tropical marine. The weather is generally hot and very humid with little seasonal temperature variation. The mean high temperature is 86 °F (30 °C) and mean low is 76 °F (24 °C) with an average annual rainfall of 96 inches (2,180 mm). The dry season runs from December through June. The remaining months (July through November) constitute the rainy season. The months of January and February are considered the coolest months of the year with night time temperatures in the mid to low 70s and generally lower humidity levels. The highest risk of typhoons is during October and November. They can, however, occur year-round.
Guam is located in Typhoon Alley and it is common for the island to be threatened by tropical storms and possible typhoons during the wet season. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Super Typhoon Pongsona, with sustained winds of 144 miles per hour, gusts to 173 miles per hour, which slammed Guam on December 8, 2002, leaving massive destruction.
Since Super Typhoon Pamela in 1976, wooden structures have been largely replaced by concrete structures. During the 1980s wooden utility poles began to be replaced by typhoon-resistant concrete and steel poles. After the local Government enforced stricter construction codes, many home and business owners built their structures out of reinforced concrete with installed typhoon shutters.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record high °F (°C) | 94 (34) |
93 (34) |
93 (34) |
96 (36) |
94 (34) |
95 (35) |
95 (35) |
94 (34) |
93 (34) |
93 (34) |
92 (33) |
91 (33) |
96 (36) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 86.3 (30.2) |
86.3 (30.2) |
87.2 (30.7) |
88.4 (31.3) |
88.8 (31.6) |
88.8 (31.6) |
88.0 (31.1) |
87.5 (30.8) |
87.6 (30.9) |
87.9 (31.1) |
87.8 (31.0) |
86.8 (30.4) |
87.6 (30.9) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 80.7 (27.1) |
80.5 (26.9) |
81.2 (27.3) |
82.5 (28.1) |
83.0 (28.3) |
83.1 (28.4) |
82.3 (27.9) |
81.9 (27.7) |
81.9 (27.7) |
82.2 (27.9) |
82.4 (28.0) |
81.6 (27.6) |
81.9 (27.7) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 75.2 (24.0) |
74.8 (23.8) |
75.3 (24.1) |
76.5 (24.7) |
77.3 (25.2) |
77.4 (25.2) |
76.5 (24.7) |
76.3 (24.6) |
76.1 (24.5) |
76.6 (24.8) |
76.9 (24.9) |
76.3 (24.6) |
76.3 (24.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 66 (19) |
65 (18) |
66 (19) |
68 (20) |
70 (21) |
70 (21) |
70 (21) |
70 (21) |
70 (21) |
67 (19) |
68 (20) |
68 (20) |
65 (18) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 3.96 (100.6) |
3.78 (96) |
2.35 (59.7) |
2.84 (72.1) |
4.28 (108.7) |
7.75 (196.9) |
11.45 (290.8) |
16.00 (406.4) |
13.58 (344.9) |
11.74 (298.2) |
8.08 (205.2) |
6.24 (158.5) |
92.05 (2,338.1) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 18.8 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 17.0 | 19.3 | 22.6 | 24.7 | 25.3 | 24.3 | 25.1 | 23.4 | 22.1 | 254.9 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 176.7 | 186.0 | 217.0 | 213.0 | 220.1 | 195.0 | 155.0 | 142.6 | 132.0 | 133.3 | 135.0 | 142.6 | 2,048.3 |
| Source #1: NOAA (normals) | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Hong Kong Observatory (sun only 1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Guam
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us—that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditions—they enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)