For 600 years without a drop of rain, lightning is such a luxury that even building a house does not need a roof!

Lima is the capital of the Republic of Peru, in the western part of South America. This city is as ordinary as many other places in the world, except for one extremely strange feature in the weather. Lima is home to the least amount of rain of all countries in the world each year, so it is also known as “the city without rain”.

There is no lightning here, no ice, no snow or strong winds. What an amazing thing, never even seen!

Because there is no rain all year round, the people of Lima never have to buy raincoats or umbrellas. And another special feature is that in this city, there is no need to make a storm drain because it rains where there is no need to worry about flooding.

Most residential buildings in the city are referred to as “Adobe houses”. Some houses are simply made of cardboard, and some don’t even have a roof.

What makes the “city without rain”?

Lima is the second largest city in South America with about 8 million inhabitants. It is considered the cultural, industrial, financial and transportation center of Peru, located in the valley surrounding the mouths of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers. Notable Catholic structures include the 16th-century cathedral.

The city of Lima is imbued with Spanish culture, with many famous Catholic architectures, including a large church built in the 16th century or the National University of Saint Marcos.

For the past 600 years, Lima has had almost no rain, so much so that many residents have never seen it in their entire lives. So where does this phenomenon come from?

As explained by hydrometeorological experts, the main reason is due to the geographical location of Lima. The city is located on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the highest mountain in South America. The air flow sinks, the wind direction basically blows parallel to sea level. Coastal air in contact with cold water is blocked by cold air currents, so it cannot condense into cumulus clouds.

So can’t cause rain. Water vapor can only form fog. Because of this, the city of Lima is not dry, on the contrary is very wet due to a large amount of water vapor. There is no rain but in return the weather here is cool and comfortable. The coldest temperature is only about 16 degrees Celsius, the hottest does not exceed 23 degrees Celsius, 4 seasons are like spring. That is why the vegetation here is still rich and green.

If there is “rain”, the rain scene in Lima city is also impressive. The rain did not fall in drops, in torrents, but just a large amount of fog that covered the city, settling on the damp ground.

If it doesn’t rain, where do you get water to live?

Lima’s rainfall is even less than the average rainfall in the Sahara Desert – one of the driest regions in the world. There is no rain, but the people of Lima still live normally thanks to the water source from the Aprikh River formed by the melting of snow and ice in the Andes mountains.

Because the city is close to the sea and has the Remark river, the city has an abundant underground water source, there is no shortage of water or drought. Not only enough water for domestic use, the water source also provides lush vegetation.