Articles | Volume 8, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/ascmo-8-63-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/ascmo-8-63-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
15 Mar 2022
| 15 Mar 2022
Spatial heterogeneity of 2015–2017 drought intensity in South Africa's winter rainfall zone
Willem Stefaan Conradie
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Piotr Wolski
Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Bruce Charles Hewitson
Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
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Cape Town is situated in a small but ecologically and climatically highly diverse and vulnerable pocket of South Africa uniquely receiving its rain mostly in winter. We show complex structures in the spatial patterns of rainfall seasonality and year-to-year changes in rainfall within this domain, tied to spatial differences in the rain-bearing winds. This allows us to develop a new spatial subdivision of the region to help future studies distinguish spatially distinct climate change responses.
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Cape Town is situated in a small but ecologically and climatically highly diverse and vulnerable pocket of South Africa uniquely receiving its rain mostly in winter. We show complex structures in the spatial patterns of rainfall seasonality and year-to-year changes in rainfall within this domain, tied to spatial differences in the rain-bearing winds. This allows us to develop a new spatial subdivision of the region to help future studies distinguish spatially distinct climate change responses.
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Short summary
The
Day Zerowater crisis affecting Cape Town after the severe 2015–2017 drought motivated renewed research interest into causes and projections of rainfall variability and change in this water-stressed region. Unusually few wet months and very wet days characterised the Day Zero Drought. Its extent expanded as it shifted gradually north-eastward, concurrent with changes in the weather systems driving drought. Our results emphasise the need to consider the interplay between drought drivers.
The
Day Zerowater crisis affecting Cape Town after the severe 2015–2017 drought motivated...
