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The nature and development of rainstorms in Coastal East Africa
Author(s) -
Sumner G. N.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0196-1748
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3370010204
Subject(s) - storm , climatology , east coast , mode (computer interface) , submarine pipeline , geography , meteorology , geology , oceanography , physical geography , computer science , operating system
Using data for a 29‐month period from an intense network of extended scale autographic raingauges at Dar es Salaam, various different storm types are identified, which are thought to be representative of the East African coast as a whole. The primary means of identification of storm types were storm morphology, mode of development and movement. Three major storm groups are proposed: (i) linear storms which develop parallel to the coast along sea or land‐breeze fronts, (ii) smaller elliptical outbreaks developing in situ , and (iii) small, moving elliptical ‘air mass’ storms apparently associated with the prevailing trade wind circulation. A fourth but far less numerous group is composed of large, often heavy, amorphous storms whose origins probably lie with larger‐scale tropospheric perturbations, rather than with local causes.