600 years without rain, houses don’t need roofs

City strange

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru. The city has an area of ​​804.3 km², the population accounts for 2/3 of the total population of the country. It is the cultural, industrial, financial and transportation center of Peru. The city of Lima would be very ordinary if we did not mention its climate. The climate here is very special, there is no rain all year round but it is never dry.

Coming to the city of Lima, you will certainly be surprised to find that most of the houses in the low-income area here are without roofs. There are even houses made by using cardboard to close.

This is purely due to the climatic characteristics of Lima. Since there is no rain all year round and the climate is quite mild, they feel that making roofs is not very necessary.

The streets of Lima are completely devoid of sewers. People never need to use umbrellas and raincoats. Even many people have never seen rain in their entire lives.

The last time it rained in the city of Lima happened more than 600 years ago. It can be said that today this is the only city in the world that does not rain.

However, the ‘rain’ in the city of Lima is also a very unique sight. It’s not the torrential, intermittent rain that we see, but it’s just a large amount of fog that covers the city, and will settle on the ground to create a little moisture.

Science explains

Currently, according to statistics, the average annual rainfall in Lima ranges from 10mm-15mm. This is less than a fifth of the annual average rainfall of the Sahara, one of the driest regions in the world.

Meteorologists have given an explanation for why it rains so little, but the city of Lima is not as dry as other places.

It is all due to the influence of the city’s somewhat special geographical position. Although the city of lima is located on the high edge of the subtropical South Pacific Ocean, located in the tropics, it is influenced by the cold air currents of the Peruvian ocean current.

This also makes the water vapor above the city of lima, while rising, is blocked by the cold air current, unable to condense into cumulus clouds, so it cannot cause rain. Therefore, lima city is not only not dry but also very wet because of the large amount of water vapor.

In addition, due to its location near the sea and the famous Mark River, lima city has an abundant underground water source, there has never been a shortage of water. On the contrary, the water here is always abundant, not only enough for living but also enough for other activities.

When observing the city of Lima from above, one can clearly see that the city is surrounded by desert, coastline and golden sand, forming a beautiful landscape.

To have enough water to live, people draw from the Aprikh River, which is formed by melting snow and ice from the Andes mountains. Although there is no rain, the climate in Lima is cool, the coldest is only 16 degrees Celsius, the hottest is not more than 23 degrees Celsius. All four seasons here are like spring.