Why is the Atacama Desert so dry?

Answer 1

One of the driest places on Earth is the Atacama. It's a desert, partly due to landforms. For it's so fenced in by the Andes Mountains on one side, and by the Chilean Coast Range on the other, that moisture can't get through either way. The Atacama is a desert, also partly due to patterns of air and water circulation. For the Humboldt current runs all along the Chilean and southern Peruvian coasts. But its cold waters flow northwestward, and away from the coastal range. The same northwestward flow can be said of the anticyclonic air pattern. So circulatory patterns of air and water, and mountain barriers, move moisture away from the Atacama.

Answer 2

The Andes Mountains to the east prevent moisture from the Amazon Basin from being drawn into the area. The Coastal Range to the west stops much of the moisture that might be drawn from the Pacific Ocean. Between the two mountain ranges is located the Atacama Desert that, because of its geography, receives virtually no rain.

Answer 3

1.) The high Andes Mountains to the east that block moisture from the Amazon Basin and Atlantic Ocean from reaching the Atacama.

2.) The coastal mountain ranges that prevent Pacific moisture from reaching the desert.

3.) The cold Humboldt Current in the Pacific brings cold water to the coastline that has little evaporation.

4.) A perpetual inversion layer hangs over the desert. The upper atmosphere is warmer than the surface air. This prevents convection that could form rain clouds.

5.) Even when there is evaporation from the Pacific, the prevailing winds are from the east and the moisture is blown in a westerly direction, away from the desert.

Answer 4

Primarily, the mountains on either side of the desert block out nearly all the atmospheric moisture that could provide rain to the desert.

Answer 5

Because it rarely rains there.