(1969). (1991). The wettest area is the southern flank of Mt. Similar results were obtained for Uganda (Christy, 2013) across the 20th century. Along the south–north gradient of decreasing rainfall, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (5° north latitude) records a mean annual rainfall of 1,600 mm; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (12° northern latitude) 700 mm within a 5-month rainy season; and Agadez, Niger (18° northern latitude) 165 mm annually in a short 2.5-month rainy season. As much as 69% of Eastern Africa is classified as hyper-arid, arid and semi-arid (UNDP/UNSO, 1997), with a mean annual precipitation (MAP) under 50% of the mean annual potential evapotranspiration (PET). ), Agriculture in Uganda (2d ed., pp.

Mount Kenya global atmosphere watch station (MKN): Installation and meteorological characterization. Some of these waves bring heavy rains to the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania (Fremming, 1970; Lumb, 1966). At daytime, the urban station is only marginally warmer and shows less warming over time than the rural station. In northeastern Somalia, tropical cyclones travelling westward from the Arabian Sea very infrequently reach the coast. Journal of Climate, 14, 3631–3642.Find this resource: Mekasha, A., Tesfaye, K., & Duncan, A. J. Rift lakes, being incised in the highlands, lie in rain shadows where rainfall is relatively low, but the major East African Great Lakes (Victoria, Tanganyika, Albert, and Kivu) enhance precipitation by 732 mm/yr−1 over their surface (Thiery et al., 2015). At very high elevations, diurnal cycles of solar radiation and temperature markedly differ from those of low elevations. International Journal of Climatology, 31, 1377–1388.Find this resource: Elagib, N. A., & Mansell, M. G. (2000). Massawa, Eritrea, Figure 10). It's a common mistake to make, but this misconception often causes first-time visitors to ask what the weather's like in Africa, but the reality is, it's impossible to generalize the climate of an entire continent. The Tanzanian coast has occasionally been hit by westward-traveling tropical cyclones or tropical storms originating from the southwestern Indian Ocean. At national level however, all studies show a marked increase of minimal temperatures in the last 30 to 60 years, and sometimes also an increase of maximum temperatures. The reason is heavy cloud cover and precipitation during summer, which depresses maximum temperature, lower in July-August than in any other season (Addis-Ababa, Figure 7). 25–56). Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L10402.Find this resource: Thiery, W., Davin, E. L., Panitz, H. J., Demuzere, M., Lhermitte, S., & Van Lipzig, N. (2015). Journal of Geophysical Research, 98(20), 219–235.Find this resource: Hemp, A. Klimaprobleme am Roten Meer.

At the Mount Kenya Global Atmospheric Watch station (3,678 m amsl [average mean sea level]), the morning is almost cloud-free, then convective clouds gradually build up and result in decreased solar radiation, until clouds start to dissolve just before sunset, as upslope winds vanish (Henne, Junkermann, Kariuki, Aseyo, & Klausen, 2008). Rainfall data combined from CRC (1951–2000) and CHIRPS (1981–2015; Funk et al., 2015b), normalized on the period 1981–2000. ), as well as a rise in infectious diseases. Circles with bold figures show P95 computed from daily rain gauge data (CRC data base) for various periods (only stations with at least 7 years of data are retained). Journal of Climatology, 5(1), 17–33.Find this resource: Davis, S. R., Pratt, L. J., & Jiang, H. (2015). Along the Indian Ocean coast, sea breezes play an important part in rainfall generation, shown as a band of high rainfall along the coast in Kenya (Figure 8) and slightly inland in southern Somalia (Fantoli, 1965). Personal use only; commercial use is strictly prohibited (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Viste, Korecha, and Sorteberg, (2013) did not find any significant change in the 1970–2010 JJAS rainfall as an average over the Ethiopian summer rainfall area. The November wind field (Figure 2) illustrates the circulation patterns at the time of peak rainfall in much of eastern equatorial Africa. (2013). Relationship between October–December rainfall and IOZM sea surface temperature. Meridional rainfall gradients dominate in the west along the Nile valley and its surroundings, where a single boreal summer peak is mostly observed. Whereas highly organized rain-producing systems are uncommon, convection is partly modulated at intra-seasonal (about 30–60-day) timescales. Climate Research, 20(1), 31–40.Find this resource: You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Kenya's weather is dictated by monsoon winds and the country's rainy season.

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 29, 897–910.Find this resource: Mölg, T., Cullen, N. J., Hardy, D. R., Kaser, G., & Klok, L. (2008). Eastern Africa overall mean temperature increased by 0.7 to 1 °C from 1973 to 2013, depending on the season. Further east in the Kenya Highlands, rainfall maxima close to 2,000 mm are attained on both the western foothills (near 35 °E) and the eastern slopes. In T. C. Johnson & E. O. Odada (Eds. The ITCZ moves over equatorial Eastern Africa, but contrary to West Africa it is diffuse, with no clear confluence of airflows from the two hemispheres.

In the west of the region, dry conditions are also found in northern Sudan (Figure 8), but with a southward gradient of increasing rainfall that replicates the one found in Western Africa (see the article Climate of Western and Central Equatorial Africa). Yet, they are a major ingredient in the spring small rains over northeastern Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Red Sea area. Rainfall variability in Northern Tanzania in the March–May season (long rains) and its links to large-scale climate forcing. (1996). The strong southerly flow brings in relatively dry and cool air from the southern hemisphere, resulting in atmospheric stability in most of Tanzania, eastern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia (Yang et al., 2015). Data: ERA-interim, 1979–2014 average. . Table 1. International Journal of Climatology, 21(8), 973–1005.Find this resource: Camberlin, P., Moron, V., Okoola, R., Philippon, N., & Gitau, W. (2009). There is a distinct geography, with intense rainfalls in the eastern plains next to the Indian Ocean (40–60 mm in eastern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia) and low values over the highlands (20–30 mm in Western Kenya, the Congo-Nile watershed from Burundi to northern Uganda, the Ethiopian Highlands). It is fed by converging upslope low-level winds. In the tropical belt, Eastern Africa stands out as a relatively dry area, despite its equatorial location. Aridity zones and dryland populations: An assessment of population levels in the world’s drylands with particular reference to Africa. If you're planning a visit to the Serengeti or the Masai Mara, this is the time to do is, as animals are out in abundance. This feature was noted in early work on rainfall regionalization (Beltrando, 1990; Ogallo, 1989). Subsidence is found north of 5–10 °N, denoting the descending limb of the Hadley cell. Monthly maps (Figure 5, bottom) reflect the influence of latitude, ITCZ shifts and orography, but the relationship between solar radiation and rainfall regimes is often loose. North Atlantic Oscillation influence on precipitation variability around the Southeast African Convergence Zone. Over the Red Sea area, rainfall is very low, but regimes are complex. The Nile flood and world weather. Kenya also experiences two rainy seasons: The longest typically lasts from April through June, and there is a second rainy season that occurs from November through December. Quantifying climate change in the tropical midtroposphere over East Africa from glacier shrinkage on Kilimanjaro. In these regions, highest temperatures generally occur in February-March before the main rains (e.g., Mbarara and Embu on Figure 7, right panels), while lowest temperatures are found in July-August, during the relatively dry but cloudy season. Journal of Climatology, 9, 145–167.Find this resource: Ogallo, L. J., Janowiak, J. E., & Halpert, M. S. (1988). The stability of the South-East monsoons and the associated non-precipitating stratocumulus clouds over Eastern Africa. Equatorial East Africa (mainly Kenya and southern Somalia) adhere to this feature, and many of its wetter locations (above 150 mm/month) even exhibit larger interannual rainfall variations than in other parts of the tropics. In the central Red Sea around 16–20 °N, a surface confluence between the northerly and southerly flows is known as the Red Sea Convergence Zone (RSCZ) (Flohn, 1965b; Pedgley, 1966). A Brief Overview of Africa's Dry and Rainy Seasons, The Weather and Climate in the Philippines, The Weather and Climate in Southeast Asia, Weather in Ireland: Climate, Seasons, and Average Monthly Temperature, Weather in Africa: Climate, Seasons, and Average Monthly Temperature, Tripsavvy uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. The west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with a cold current. Climatology and interannual variability of boreal spring wet season precipitation in the Eastern Horn of Africa and implications for its recent decline. Contributo alla climatologia dell’Eritrea. Journal of Climate, 14(12), 2710–2724.Find this resource: Indeje, M., Semazzi, F. H. M., & Ogallo, L. J. Clark, Webster, and Cole (2003) actually noted that the SST–rainfall correlation broke down between 1983 and 1993. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 98(3–4), 237–249.Find this resource: Camberlin, P., & Okoola, R. E. (2003). The presence of the East African Highlands intensifies the cross-equatorial flow and controls its vertical structure (Chakraborty, Nanjundiah, & Srinivasan, 2009; Peagle & Geisler, 1986; Slingo et al., 2005). Right panels: mean monthly maximum temperature (red lines) and minimum temperature (blue lines) at selected stations (long-term averages from data covering the period 1961–2010; FAO and CRC data bases). Numerous elongated lakes dot the East African Rift system, from the Afar depression to Malawi (Figure 1). Temperatures over West Africa have increased over the last 50 years, in line with an increase in global temperatures (Niang and others, 2014).

Ecology of the pteridophytes on the southern slopes of Mt. Rungwe, facing Lake Malawi, with MAP around 2,000–3,000 mm (Williamson et al., 2014). An overview of the Global Historical Climatology Network monthly mean temperature data set, version 3. World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Tropical Meteorology Research Program, Report series no. In these regions, a simple annual cycle is found (Figure 7, Dongola, Port-Sudan, Djibouti) with highest maximum temperatures (40–44 °C) in June–August, and lowest minimum temperatures in January–February. Mukabana, J. R., & Pielke, R. A. (2012).

The IOZM signal in East African precipitation is quite uniform (Figure 18a).