South African Weather Drivers

The ocean currents and atmospheric systems that shape rainfall and temperature across southern Africa — click any card for detail.

⚡ Short-term — days to weeks

🌤 Seasonal — weeks to months

📅 Interannual — year to year

🗓 Decadal and longer

⇄ Key SA-Specific Interactions

Ocean circulation Atmospheric systems Key interactions

🌊 Ocean Circulation

💨 Atmospheric Systems

⇄ Key Cross-System Interactions

Click any card or interaction chip above to see detail.

📖 Abbreviations

ACC Antarctic Circumpolar Current

AMO Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

AMOC Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

AABW Antarctic Bottom Water

AR Atmospheric River

CAB Congo Air Boundary

COL Cut-Off Low

ENSO El Niño–Southern Oscillation

IOD Indian Ocean Dipole

ITCZ Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

MJO Madden-Julian Oscillation

NWP Numerical Weather Prediction

PDO Pacific Decadal Oscillation

SAM Southern Annular Mode

SMOC Southern Ocean Meridional Overturning Circulation

SST Sea Surface Temperature

THC Thermohaline Circulation

TTT Tropical-Temperate Trough

Sources: NOAA, Wikipedia (THC, SMOC, IOD, AMO), IRI, Daily Maverick Apr 2026, Dijkstra et al. ESD 2024, Purich et al. Nature Reviews 2025, NOC RAPID-Evolution 2025, MDPI Climate 2023 (COLs), Springer Climate Dynamics (TTTs), Future Climate Africa (CAB).