Editing Geography of the Northern Mariana Islands

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
[[Image:Northern Mariana Islands map.gif|thumb|Map of the Northern Mariana Islands.]]
[[Image:Asuncion Island Aerial.jpg|thumb|[[Asuncion Island]].]]
[[File:Map Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.jpg|thumb|right|The Marianas Trench, with some of deepest ocean on the planet wraps around the Northern Mariana's and is National Marine Monument since 2009]]

The Northern Mariana Islands, together with [[Guam]] to the south, compose the [[Mariana Islands]]. The southern islands are [[limestone]], with level terraces and fringing [[coral]] reefs. The northern islands are volcanic, with active [[volcano]]es on [[Anatahan]], [[Pagan Island|Pagan]] and [[Agrihan]]. The volcano on Agrihan has the highest elevation at {{convert|3166|ft|m}}. About one-fifth of the land is arable; another tenth is pasture. The primary natural resource is fish, some of which are [[endangered species]], which leads to conflict. Also, development has created [[landfill]]s which have contaminated the groundwater on Saipan, which could lead to disease.

[[Anatahan]] Volcano is a small volcanic island {{convert|80|mi|km}} north of Saipan. It is about {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} long and {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} wide. Anatahan began erupting suddenly from its east crater on May 10, 2003, at about 6&nbsp;p.m. local time (08:00 [[UTC]]). It has since alternated between eruptive and calm periods. On April 6, 2005, approximately {{convert|50000|m3|sp=us}} of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and [[Tinian]].

==Climate==
The islands have a [[tropical marine climate]] moderated by seasonal northeast [[trade winds]].  There is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December to June, and the rainy season from July to November and can include [[typhoon]]s. The [[Guinness Book of World Records]] has cited [[Saipan]] as having the most equable climate in the world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2fsearch%2fapplicationrecordsearch%3fterm%3dequable%2bclimate%26contentType%3drecord&term=equable+climate&contentType=record|title=Most equable temp-short period|website=Guinness World Records|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> From 1927 to 1935, the temperature ranged from {{convert|19.6|C}} at the lowest to {{convert|31.4|C}} at the highest.<ref name=":0" />

{{Weather box
|collapsed=Yes
|single line = Yes
|width = auto 
|location = [[Saipan International Airport]] (Köppen Af/Am)
|Jan record high F = 89
|Feb record high F = 90
|Mar record high F = 91
|Apr record high F = 93
|May record high F = 96
|Jun record high F = 94
|Jul record high F = 99
|Aug record high F = 95
|Sep record high F = 94
|Oct record high F = 92
|Nov record high F = 92
|Dec record high F = 90
|year record high F = 99
|Jan high F = 84.1
|Feb high F = 84.0
|Mar high F = 84.9
|Apr high F = 87.1
|May high F = 88.2
|Jun high F = 88.4
|Jul high F = 87.8
|Aug high F = 87.2
|Sep high F = 87.2
|Oct high F = 86.6
|Nov high F = 86.5
|Dec high F = 85.7
|year high F = 86.5
|Jan mean F = 79.5
|Feb mean F = 79.1
|Mar mean F = 80.0
|Apr mean F = 82.0
|May mean F = 83.1
|Jun mean F = 83.4
|Jul mean F = 82.9
|Aug mean F = 82.4
|Sep mean F = 82.2
|Oct mean F = 81.8
|Nov mean F = 81.9
|Dec mean F = 81.0
|year mean F = 81.6
|Jan low F = 74.8
|Feb low F = 74.1
|Mar low F = 75.2
|Apr low F = 76.9
|May low F = 78.0
|Jun low F = 78.5
|Jul low F = 78.1
|Aug low F = 77.5
|Sep low F = 77.2
|Oct low F = 77.1
|Nov low F = 77.3
|Dec low F = 76.4
|year low F = 76.8
|Jan record low F = 70
|Feb record low F = 69
|Mar record low F = 69
|Apr record low F = 70
|May record low F = 73
|Jun record low F = 72
|Jul record low F = 71
|Aug record low F = 69
|Sep record low F = 72
|Oct record low F = 69
|Nov record low F = 69
|Dec record low F = 69
|year record low F = 69
|rain colour= green
|Jan rain inch = 3.65
|Feb rain inch = 2.50
|Mar rain inch = 1.96
|Apr rain inch = 2.75
|May rain inch = 3.12
|Jun rain inch = 4.24
|Jul rain inch = 7.43
|Aug rain inch = 12.86
|Sep rain inch = 11.42
|Oct rain inch = 10.72
|Nov rain inch = 5.21
|Dec rain inch = 3.78
|year rain inch = 69.64
|unit rain days = 0.01 in
|Jan rain days = 17.4
|Feb rain days = 15.3
|Mar rain days = 14.2
|Apr rain days = 16.4
|May rain days = 17.9
|Jun rain days = 20.2
|Jul rain days = 24.3
|Aug rain days = 23.9
|Sep rain days = 23.3
|Oct rain days = 24.5
|Nov rain days = 20.7
|Dec rain days = 18.9
|year rain days = 237.0
|source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=gum
| title = NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| accessdate = November 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=CQC00914855&format=pdf
| title = Station: Saipan INTL AP, MP
| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| accessdate = November 6, 2021}}</ref>
}}

==See also==
*[[Extreme points of the Northern Mariana Islands]]
*[[Marianas Trench Marine National Monument]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|position=left|Geography of the Northern Mariana Islands}}


{{Northern Mariana Islands}}
{{Geography of Oceania}}
{{U.S. political divisions geographies}}

[[Category:Geography of the Northern Mariana Islands| ]]