Andean rainshadowSnapped looking northwards from the space station window somewhere over Chile, this

Andean rainshadowSnapped looking northwards from the space station window somewhere over Chile, this stunning photo reveals why the strip between mountains and Pacific Ocean is mostly harsh and arid desert. In a usual year at these latitudes the trade winds blow over the South American continent from the Atlantic, bearing the moisture evaporated from the sea. As you can see, most of the resulting snow has fallen on the Argentinean side of the watershed, and most of the cloud lurks there too. When the oceanic air hits the mountains, it rises, and sheds its moisture as rain and snow before passing over and flowing onwards towards the Pacific.On the western side of the chain most of the moisture has gone, and such rain as there is falls intermittently. Parts of the Atacama have not seen any recorded rainfall since the Spanish first arrived there. The clouds above the Pacific form well offshore, because a cold current of deep oceanic water is rising where the Pacific meets South America. These waters are cold enough to form fogs, but do not produce much in the way of rain bearing clouds. The barren eroding badlands that compose much of northern Chile are evident by their drab brown colours.In an El Nino year like this one (see linked posts below) the trade winds stop and the cold current is inhibited, allowing rain to reach the coast, which often causes flash flooding. Argentina has a drier year and my home city of Montevideo is much less windy (though the trades are slowly picking up after a long absence, today they howl and dash rain against my window and I guess I’ll just have to get used to their familiar presence again).The EL Nino at work series: http://bit.ly/29YS6ps http://bit.ly/29EsXw6http://bit.ly/207KZt0, http://on.fb.me/1P1BV2O,http://on.fb.me/1OSg0dH, http://on.fb.me/1JEC5La, http://on.fb.me/1SjYm8e http://on.fb.me/1PuX6OQ, http://on.fb.me/1NUmrwUhttp://on.fb.me/1RT7l0M, http://on.fb.me/1mtXgKv, http://bit.ly/1SBlTkPLozImage credit: Tim Peake -- source link

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