Based on 33 years' rainfall data of Myanmar for the summer monsoon months (June-September), the detailed rainfall climatology of the country has been studied. Seasonal rainfall series are found to approximate to a Gaussian distribution. By using the rainfall distribution and coefficient of variation, it has been possible to divide the country into five homogeneous rainfall regions. Different statistical characteristics of the seasonal, monthly and zonal rainfall, as well as the whole country's rainfall, have been determined. Analysis of interannual and intraseasonal variability highlights the fact that the correlation between the rainfall of different months and zones is rather weak. Trend and periodicity of the rainfall series have been examined by different statistical techniques, indicating little evidence of a trend. The power spectrum of the rainfall series appears to show only marginal significance at the 95% level for an 11 year cycle. The rainfall series of Myanmar shows little correspondence with neighbouring Bangladesh and Northeast India, even though all of them are influenced by similar weather systems. Copyright (C) 2000 Royal Meteorological Society.
