# Areas of Low Rainfall Over the Sea?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-of-low-rainfall-over-the-sea/463550>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 14, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-of-low-rainfall-over-the-sea/463550 "2008-09-14T12:15:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-of-low-rainfall-over-the-sea/463550/1 "2008-09-14T12:15:44Z")

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Are there “deserts” over the open ocean (which is to say, are there patches of the ocean, like there are over land, where rainfall is very low)?

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-of-low-rainfall-over-the-sea/463550/2 "2008-09-14T13:36:07Z")

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> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Are there “deserts” over the open ocean (which is to say, are there patches of the ocean, like there are over land, where rainfall is very low)?

Certainly. Rain is caused by clouds after all. In areas where there aren’t many clouds there isn’t much rain. For a detailed look at rain over the entire globe, visit TRMM:  
[http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/](http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

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**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/areas-of-low-rainfall-over-the-sea/463550/3 "2008-09-14T14:40:54Z")

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The [Sargasso sea](http://www.lighthouse-foundation.de/index.php?id=131&L=1) has been described as an ocen desert.

> [@](#):
>
> The warm currents also affect the weather in the area. It remains - like the water - mostly very calm, humid, and often stifling hot. Due to the hot temperatures, the Sargasso Sea has a high evaporation rate. However, the lack of rainfall fails to add fresh water into the sea, which causes a very high salinity.