Average Annual Precipitation

About how much precipitation an area receives over a year is called its average annual precipitation.

It’s determined for a specific area. The amount of precipitation an area receives depends on how close it is to the ocean, how hot it is, how humid it is, if there are mountains nearby, etc.

A desert would have a very low average annual precipitation. There would not be a lot of things growing there. The opposite would be the rain forest, an area with a high average annual precipitation.

Rub al Khali 002

(image source and license)

Forest in the bluemountains

(image source and license)