Climatic regions

When considered in detail, the movement of air masses and

their effects provide the basis for a division of the

continent into eight climatic regions. These are the

hot desert, semiarid, tropical wet-and-dry, equatorial

(tropical wet), Mediterranean, humid subtropical marine, warm

temperate upland, and mountain regions.

The hot desert region consists of the Sahara and Kalahari

deserts, which are always under the influence of dry

continental tropical air masses, and the northern Kenya–

Somali desert, the aridity of which is principally caused by

the stable nature of the maritime air masses that pass over

it throughout the year. The stability of these maritime air

water offshore. In addition to aridity, the desert climate is

characterized by high mean monthly temperatures; the diurnal

(daily) temperature range is, however, greater than the

annual range of the mean monthly temperature.

Africa's climate is dominated by desert conditions along vast

stretches of its northern and southern fringes. The central

portion of the continent is wetter, with tropical

rainforests, grasslands, and semi-arid climates.

Semiarid climatic regions fringe the desert areas and include

the greater part of the land south of the Zambezi River. They

differ from true desert regions in being just within reach of

receiving more rainfall. Temperatures are about the same as

those in the desert regions.

The tropical wet-and-dry region is often called

the savanna climatic region; this implies, incorrectly, that

all areas with savanna vegetation have this type of climate.

This region covers a little less than half of the total

surface area of the continent, extending toward the Equator

from the semiarid areas. The great distinguishing feature of

this climatic region is the seasonal character of its

rainfall. During the period of high sun, the maritime air

masses produce up to six months of rainfall, the length of

the rainy season depending on nearness to the Equator. The

rest of the year is dry. In a few places—for example, on the

coast of Mauritania and Senegal—there is also a little

rainfall in the period of low sun. As in the desert and

semiarid climatic zones, mean monthly temperatures show less

variation than daily temperatures. In western Africa the

period of low sun corresponds to the harmattan season. The

harmattan is a warm, dry, northeasterly or easterly wind that

blows out of the southern Sahara and is frequently laden with

large quantities of sand and dust.

climate, or variants thereof, are the wettest in Africa.

There are two peak periods of rainfall corresponding to the

double passage of the ITCZ. Because areas with an equatorial

climate are constantly covered by warm maritime air masses,

variations in their monthly and daily temperatures are less

pronounced than in the tropical wet-and-dry regions.

Marked variations in the rhythm of equatorial climate

sometimes occur. For example, the rainfall may be monsoonal

and the second rainy season may be all but nonexistent. But

the most notable anomaly can be observed on the western

African coast from around Cape Three Points, Ghana, eastward

to Benin, where, although the bimodal rainfall regime

prevails, the total annual precipitation is less than 40

inches (1,000 millimetres). Among the many explanations that

have been suggested are that the presence of a cold body of

water offshore chills the lower layers of the maritime air

mass and makes it stable, that the body of cold air that
forms offshore diverts the incoming airstreams to the west

and east of the anomalously dry area, that there is a strong

tendency for the winds to blow parallel to the shore during

the rainy seasons, that the absence of highlands deprives the

region of orographic (mountain) rainfall, that fluctuations

in the offshore moisture-bearing winds occur during the rainy

season and reduce rainfall, and that local meteorological

peculiarities of thunderstorms contribute to the reduction in

rainfall.

In the northern and southern extremities of the continent,

there is a dry summer subtropical, or Mediterranean, type of

climate. Rain falls only in winter (December–January in North

Africa, June–July in Southern Africa), although in some

localities it may fall in autumn (September in North Africa,

April in Southern Africa). Mean monthly temperatures are

lower than in tropical climates, dropping to about 50 °F (10

°C) in winter, while summer (June–July in North Africa, and

December–January in Southern Africa) temperatures may

sometimes exceed those of tropical climates. Clear blue skies

are characteristic.
The humid subtropical marine climate is restricted to the

southeast coast of Africa. This region is characterized by

rainfall throughout the year, but it is heaviest in summer.

In South Africa, south of KwaZulu-Natal, the winter rainfall

is more pronounced, and the temperatures are a little lower

than in the north. Thus, at Port Elizabeth there are six

months when temperatures are below 62 °F (17 °C), while at

Durban mean monthly temperatures do not fall below 64 °F (18

°C).

The warm temperate upland climatic region is found on the

Highveld of Southern Africa. Its rainfall regime is similar

to that of the tropical wet-and-dry climate, but temperatures

are greatly modified by the altitude; frost, for example,

occasionally occurs in Lesotho. Toward the coast the climate

shows maritime characteristics, and there is a tendency

toward winter rainfall.

of Ethiopia and the lake region of East Africa. In some

respects the climate is similar to the warm temperate upland

climate, except that temperatures are even lower and snow

occurs on the tops of the highest peaks, such as Kilimanjaro.

The rainfall regime is similar to that of

the adjacent lowland areas.