🇸🇷Suriname

Suriname (approximately 163,820 km²) occupies the northeastern shoulder of South America between 1°50'–6°N, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north (386 km coastline), French Guiana to the east (Maroni/Marowijne River boundary), Guyana to the west (Corantijn River boundary), and Brazil to the south, encompassing a quintessential tropical rainforest climate across 90% of its interior.

The country divides into three distinct zones: the densely populated coastal plain (extending 15–25 km inland below 5 m elevation) where 87% of the population lives, including capital Paramaribo; the cultivated savanna belt rising to 100 m with bauxite mining operations; and the vast forested interior (approximately 80% of national territory) rising to 1,280 m at Julianatop in the Wilhelmina Mountains.

The climate is predominantly Köppen Af (tropical rainforest) with mean annual temperatures of 27°C showing minimal seasonal variation, though the interior experiences slight cooling at higher elevations. Annual precipitation averages 2,200 mm on the coast and exceeds 3,000 mm in the interior highlands, distributed across two wet seasons (December–early February and late April–mid August) separated by two dry periods, though the interior remains humid year-round.

The northeastern trade winds moderate coastal temperatures but bring persistent humidity; the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) seasonal migration governs rainfall patterns; interior rivers including the Suriname, Saramacca, Coppename, and Marowijne drain north through dense rainforest, creating flood vulnerability when seasonal rains coincide with spring tides.

Paramaribo (coastal, elevation 5 m) averages 26°C in both January and July with 2,200 mm annual rainfall, experiencing oppressive year-round humidity with heat indices regularly exceeding 35°C, rarely dropping below 22°C at night. The severe May 2006 interior floods inundated vast areas of the southern and central districts when exceptional rainfall overwhelmed the Tapanahony and Gran Rio watersheds, displacing over 20,000 people (mostly Maroon and indigenous communities), destroying infrastructure, and cutting off remote villages for months; recovery efforts revealed the vulnerability of isolated interior populations to extreme precipitation events amplified by upstream deforestation.

The severe May 2008 Marowijne River floods peaked at record levels when convergent rains across the Guiana Shield sent massive discharge down the border river, flooding Albina and multiple riverside settlements, displacing 4,000+ people, contaminating water supplies, and exposing the lack of early-warning systems for transboundary river basins.

Lelydorp (11 km from coast) registers 26°C year-round with 2,100 mm; Brokopondo (interior, near reservoir, elevation 50 m) remains at 26°C with 2,600 mm; Stoelmanseiland (deep interior, near Brazilian border) averages 25°C with over 3,000 mm, its dense canopy buffering temperature extremes.

Sea-level rise threatens 87% of Suriname's population clustered on the low-lying coastal plain, where subsidence from groundwater extraction and peat oxidation compounds the threat; Paramaribo and coastal agriculture are increasingly vulnerable to storm surge and saltwater intrusion into aquifers and rice fields.

The 2023–2024 El Niño intensified dry-season drought stress across the interior, stressing hydropower generation at the Brokopondo reservoir (critical for national electricity), reducing river navigation, and threatening indigenous communities dependent on subsistence farming and fishing. Bauxite mining in the savanna belt has amplified flood extremes by stripping vegetation, compacting soils, and creating impermeable surfaces that accelerate runoff, while mining-road networks channel water into destructive flows.

Our archive covers 0 Surinamese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.