A BRIEF FACT SHEET ON WINTER RAINS IN NAMIBIA

(Sepiso Mwangala, Climate & Data Bank Section)

Abstract It always seems a great surprise to many people whenever there is a serious shower of rain or two during winter months (May to August). The fact of the matter is that winter rains aren’t so terribly unusual, particularly in the south. And it is all well explained by the underlying atmospheric systems: increased trafficking of cold fronts traversing the southern Africa sub-continent in successive west-east rhythmical patterns, advecting moist cold air which rises over land to form clouds and subsequent precipitation. This article examines the proportion of years when rain was recorded in winter at specified stations across Namibia. It is established that at some stations in the south, the proportion of years with one or more rainy-days during the winter months exceeds 50% and that at some of these stations - Rosh Pinah, Luderitz and Oranjemund, winter rainfall on average accounts for 37%, 49% and 53% of annual rainfall respectively.Yes, winter rains often bring great surprises to many people, but these rains are not entirely ‘blue moon’.