Premium
Secular changes in South African rainfall: 1880 to 1972
Author(s) -
Tyson P. D.,
Dyer T. G. J.,
Mametse M. N.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49710143008
Subject(s) - climatology , geography , period (music) , secular variation , historical record , series (stratigraphy) , southern oscillation , history , physical geography , geology , el niño southern oscillation , paleontology , geophysics , physics , acoustics , memoir , art history
Analysis of time series for 157 stations with records covering the period 1910–1972 and for fewer stations with records extending back to 1880 suggests that the commonly held view that South Africa, as a whole, is undergoing progressive desiccation must be questioned. Instead the data suggest the specific regional occurrence of weak (but nonetheless readily discernible) oscillations of 16–20 and 10–12 years, the ubiquity of 3–4 year fluctuations and the spatially distinctive occurrence of a quasi‐biennial oscillation.