What is the yearly rainfall in south africa?

Question

What is the yearly rainfall in south africa?

Answer 1

Rainfall is distributed very unevenly in Africa. Most areas receive either too much rain or too little. In parts of the west coast, for example, annual rainfall averages more than 100 inches (250 centimeters). In Monrovia, Liberia, an average of more than 40 inches (100 centimeters) of rain falls during the month of June alone. In contrast, more than half of Africa receives less than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rainfall yearly. The Sahara and the Namib Desert receive an average of less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) a year. In parts of the deserts, rain may not fall for six or seven years in a row. Then when it does rain, many children are startled because they have never seen rain before.

Rain falls the year around in the forests of the Congo Basin and the coastal regions of western Africa. But almost all the rest of Africa has one or two seasons of heavy rainfall separated by dry periods. In some regions of Africa, the amount of rainfall varies sharply from year to year rather than from season to season. Since the late 1960's, droughts have caused much suffering in Africa. Millions of Africans have died of starvation and related causes. The hardest-hit areas include Ethiopia and the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara.

Africa's climate has made agricultural improvement difficult. In areas with limited and unreliable rainfall, farmers may be uncertain of what crops to plant. Some farmers grow a number of crops with different moisture needs in the hope of having at least one successful harvest. Other farmers may grow only one or two kinds of crops and risk starvation if not enough rain falls. In areas with too much rainfall, heavy downpours wash away nourishing substances in the soil. The hot, humid climate in much of Africa encourages the spread of insects that destroy livestock and cause various diseases in people.

Answer 2

683cm if you use Kruger National Park Region as an example of the entire country.

Answer 3

Main article: Geography of South Africa

Map of South Africa

Map of South Africa

South Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2,500 kilometres (1,550 mi) and across two oceans (the Atlantic and the Indian). At 470,979 sq mi (1,219,912 km²),[5] South Africa is the world's 25th-largest country (after Mali). It is comparable in size to Colombia. Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at 3,408 m (11,424 ft) is the highest peak in South Africa.

South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to it being surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, by its location in the climatically milder southern hemisphere and due to the average elevation rising steadily towards the north (towards the equator) and further inland. Due to this varied topography and oceanic influence, a great variety of climatic zones exist.

The climatic zones vary, from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the Mozambique border and the Indian ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over a mountainous escarpment towards the interior plateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is classified as semi-arid, there is considerable variation in climate as well as topography.

The interior of South Africa is a vast, rather flat, and sparsely populated scrubland, Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well-watered, which produces a climate similar to the tropics. The extreme southwest has a climate remarkably similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous Fynbos Biome. This area also produces much of South Africa's wine. This region is also particularly known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the country's south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route.

Satellite picture of South Africa

Satellite picture of South Africa

The Free State is particularly flat due to the fact that it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1,740 metres (5,709 ft) and receives an annual rainfall of 760 millimetres (30 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.

To the north of Johannesburg, the altitude drops beyond the Highveld's escarpment, and turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and an abundance of wildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld stretches towards the Indian ocean. It has particularly high temperatures, and is also the location of extended subtropical agriculture. The mountains of the Barberton Greenstone belt in the lowveld are the oldest mountains on Earth, dating back 3.5 Billion years. The earliest reliable proof of life (dated 3.2–3.5 Billion years old) has been found in these mountains.

The high Drakensberg mountains, which form the south-eastern escarpment of the Highveld, offer limited skiing opportunities in winter.The coldest place in South Africa is Sutherland in the western Roggeveld Mountains, where midwinter temperatures can reach as low as −15 degrees Celsius (5 °F). The deep interior has the hottest temperatures: A temperature of 51.7 °C (125 °F) was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington.[6]

South Africa also has one possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km²/112 sq mi) and Prince Edward Island (45 km²/17.3 sq mi) (not to be confused with the Canadian province of the same name).

[hide]Weather averages for Cape Town, South Africa

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average high °C (°F) 27 (81) 28 (82) 26 (79) 24 (75) 20 (68) 18 (64) 17 (63) 18 (64) 19 (66) 22 (72) 24 (75) 26 (79) 28 (82)

Average low °C (°F) 16 (61) 16 (61) 15 (59) 13 (55) 10 (50) 8 (46) 8 (46) 8 (46) 9 (48) 11 (52) 14 (57) 15 (59) 8 (46)

Precipitation mm (inches) 16.5 (0.6) 13 (0.5) 20 (0.8) 54 (2.1) 92 (3.6) 111 (4.4) 96 (3.8) 87 (3.4) 56 (2.2) 40 (1.6) 24 (0.9) 18 (0.7) 627 (24.7)

Source: EuroWEATHER[7] 2.22.2008

[edit] Flora and fauna

Answer 4

"South Africa has an average annual precipitaion of 464 mm"

http://books.google.ca/books?id=0Y7mqcZz...

(scroll down and it is the last sentence under the heading of Rainfall and Climate)

Average annual precipitation varies from 400 mm (16 inches) in the east to less than 50 mm (2 inches) in the northwest coastal regions.

WHY??

- warm Agulhas current from Mozambique as well as the Indian Ocean to the east and the cold Benguela current from the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast

Average annual precipitation in Cape Town is 510 mm (20 inches)