The topography is able to influence the track and development of many weather systems, leading to marked gradients in rainfall and vegetation across southern Africa. For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us. Climate change presents a significant threat to the SADC region as it is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of climatic events. Along with Benguela Niños, the southern African climate is strongly impacted by ENSO and to lesser extent by the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and sea-surface temperature (SST) dipole events in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans. Climatic zones are often referred to by the seasonal pattern of rainfall. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science, Changes in Precipitation Over Southern Africa During Recent Centuries, Quaternary Climate Variation in Southern Africa, Climate Impact: Managed Ecosystems and Agriculture, Climate Systems and Climate Dynamics: Biogeochemistry, Climate Systems and Climate Dynamics: Theoretical Foundations. [9], CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, "GPCC's new land surface precipitation climatology based on quality-controlled in situ data and its role in quantifying the global water cycle", "Johannesburg & Gauteng Weather and Climate", "Joburg covered by snow as temperature drops", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Climate_of_South_Africa&oldid=980376882, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 September 2020, at 06:19. Therefore, SADC Member States are collaborating to find ways to adapt to, and mitigate, the effects of climate change in the region. Furthermore, unstable weather patterns affect plans for Industry, Energy Generation, and Transport throughout the region. South Africa is a sunny country, averaging 8–10 daily sunshine hours in most regions. It is typified by Johannesburg, at an elevation of 1,753 metres (5,751 ft). As a result, SADC has instituted a number of programmes and agreements to mitigate these threats, in particular the Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology. South Africa experiences hotter and drier weather during the El Niño phase, while La Niña brings cooler and wetter conditions. The Indian and Atlantic oceans meet at the southwestern tip of South Africa. The winter rainfall region is confined to a relatively small area in the south-west, the Western Cape area, where gentle rain falls from May to August but the summers are dry. Cold and warm coastal currents running north-west and north-east respectively account for the difference in climates between west and east coasts. Infrequent showers occur through the course of the winter months. In addition to South Atlantic and South Indian Ocean influences, there are climatic implications of the neighboring Southern Ocean. For most of the country, rain falls mainly in the summer months with brief afternoon thunderstorms. While leading to challenges in understanding its climate variability and change, the complex geography of southern Africa offers a very useful test bed for improving the global models used in many institutions for climate prediction. The most severe of which will be on water supply, and its subsequent effects such as a decrease in agriculture. Predicted higher temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and an overall decrease in rainfall will have serious consequences for the region. Keywords: southern Africa, climate variability, climate change, weather patterns, rainfall, Agulhas Current, Benguela Current, Southern Ocean, models. It is also likely that at least some of the relativity aridity of the Limpopo region in northern South Africa/southern Zimbabwe results from the location of Madagascar in the southwestern Indian Ocean. The north and west of the city has undulating hills while the eastern parts are flatter. The warm Agulhas Current runs south along the east coast and the cold Benguela Current flows north along the western shore. The regional land–sea distribution leads to a highly variable climate on a range of scales that is still not well understood due to its complexity and its sensitivity to a number of different drivers. Unlike other western boundary currents, the Agulhas retroflects south of the land mass and flows back into the South Indian Ocean, thereby leading to a large area of anomalously warm water south of South Africa which may influence storm development over the southern part of the land mass. Much of the interior of southern Africa consists of a plateau 1 to 1.5 km high and a narrow coastal belt that is particularly mountainous in South Africa, leading to sharp topographic gradients. The summer and winter rainfall region is the Eastern Cape. On the central plateau, which includes the Free State and Gauteng provinces, the altitude keeps the average temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F); Johannesburg, for example, lies at 1,753 metres (5,751 ft). Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription. [2] The average annual rainfall for South Africa is about 464 mm (compared to a global average of 786 mm[3]) but large and unpredictable variations are common. As much of the region relies on subsistence Agriculture for their income, accurate predictions of weather patterns are instrumental to many people’s livelihoods. Africa is predicted to be the continent most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Regular cold fronts pass over in winter bringing very cold southerly winds but usually clear skies. The arid regions are in the north-west, with the driest areas being the north-west coast. Thus, research into the relative shortcomings of the models in the southern African region may lead not only to better understanding of southern African climate but also to enhanced capability to predict climate globally. The weather is also influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Access to the complete content on Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science requires a subscription or purchase. Weather and climate affect many aspects of life in Southern Africa. Droughts are common in the arid and semi-arid regions, and heavy rainfalls following periods of drought can cause severe flooding. South Africa's coasts are major tourist attractions and trade locations. All Rights Reserved. [7] Temperatures in the city are usually fairly mild due to the city's high altitude, with the average maximum daytime temperature in January of 26 °C (78.8 °F), dropping to an average maximum of around 16 °C (60.8 °F) in June. In South Africa, south of KwaZulu-Natal, the winter rainfall is more pronounced, and the … (c) Oxford University Press USA, 2020. Winter temperatures may reach the freezing point at high altitude, but are at their most mild in coastal regions, particularly KwaZulu Natal Province and perhaps the Eastern Cape. If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code. Weather and climate affect many aspects of life in Southern Africa. The SADC Climate Services Centre (CSC) and the SADC Regional Climate Outlook Forum work to release long-term climate forecasts to the general public and to sectors that may be impacted negatively by weather-related events. The former is important for the development of Benguela Niños and flood events over southwestern Africa, while the SCTR influences Madden-Julian Oscillation and tropical cyclone activity in the western Indian Ocean. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. This sub-region is comprised of relatively warm temperate climates (whereby the temperature of the hottest month is …

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