Earth rainfall climatology encompasses the rainfall distribution across different regions of the

planet Earth. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is
maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation. On the leeward side of mountains,
desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of
the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, bringsrainy seasons to savannah climes.
The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall, both in amounts and intensity, downwind
of cities. Global warming may also cause changes in the precipitation pattern globally, including
wetter conditions at high latitudes and in some wet tropical areas, and drier conditions in parts of
the subtropics and middle latitudes.[1] Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and
is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic
kilometres (121,000 cu mi) of water falls as precipitation each year; 398,000 cubic kilometres
(95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans.[2] Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally
averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in).Climate classification systems such as
the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between
differing climate regimes.

Most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, making it the world's driest continent. Australia's rainfall is
mainly regulated by the movement of the monsoon trough during the summer rainy season, with
lesser amounts falling during the winter and spring in its southernmost sections. The northern half
of Africa is primarily desert or arid, containing the Sahara, which central Africa (known as Sub-
Saharan Africa) sees an annual rainy season regulated by the movement of the intertropical
convergence zone or monsoon trough. Across Asia, a large annual rainfall minimum, composed
primarily of deserts, stretches from the Gobi desertin Mongolia west-southwest through Pakistan
and Iran into the Arabian desert in Saudi Arabia. In Asia, rainfall is favored across its southern
portion from India east and northeast across the Philippines and southern China into Japan due
to the monsoon advecting moisture primarily from the Indian Ocean into the region. Similar, but
weaker, monsoon circulations are present over North America and Australia. In Europe, the
wettest regions are in the Alps and downwind of bodies of water. Within North America, the drier
areas of the United States are the Desert Southwest, Great Basin, valleys of northeast Arizona,
eastern Utah, central Wyoming, and the Willamette Valley. Other dry regions within the continent
are far northern Canada and the Sonoran Desert of northwest Mexico. The Pacific Northwest
United States, the Rockies of British Columbia, and the coastal ranges of Alaska are the wettest
locations in North America. The equatorial region near the Intertropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ), or monsoon trough, is the wettest portion of the world's continents. Annually, the
rain belt within the tropics marches northward by August, then moves back southward into
the Southern Hemisphere by February and March.[3]