A statistical analysis of daily and weekly rainfall for the Monterey Peninsula, in Central California.

Abstract

This thesis presents a preliminary statistical analysis of the daily and weekly rainfall for the Monterey Peninsula, in central California. The analysis begins by examining the daily rainfall data, also the relationship among the length of the storms, amount of rainfall in the storms and length of the successive days of rain. Also included is a study of the distribution of the amount of rainfall in the storms. Also study of the distribution was carried out for non-zero weekly rainfalls. 4x4 contingency tables are used to identify dependence/independence among the weeks in a given month. Also, 2x2 contingency tables are used to examine dependencies between weekly rainfalls; logistic analysis is used as a parametric model for dependence. This paper attempts to analyze rainfall data in the statistical sense. No attempt is made to provide a physical explanation of the findings from the point of view of a meteorologist.