Climatology of West Africa1

CLIMATOLOGY OF WEST AFRICA
Dr. Vincent O. Ajayi

Federal University of Technology
Akure
Introduction
• Tropical West Africa is one of the most densely
populated regions of Africa, and the annual climate
is of critical importance to the livelihoods of people
in the region.
• The weather and climate of West Africa have a
major impact on food production, water resources
and health, as well as other economic sectors, such
as power generation, transportation and fisheries.
• The West African monsoon (WAM), one of the three
major monsoon systems in the tropics, dominates
the climate of the region.
• The WAM represents a seasonal reversal of the
prevailing surface winds over the greater part of the
West African region, with the wintertime
northeasterly Harmattan winds being replaced in the
summer months by southwesterly monsoon winds.
• The summer monsoon brings moisture from over
the Atlantic Ocean into the continent, and therefore
feeds the annual rainfall, which is so critical to the
local populations.
• Variations in the WAM from year to year determine
the difference between good and bad rainfall; or on a
regional basis, between sufficient rain and drought.
InterTropical Discontinuity (ITD)
• The ITD marks the convergence zone at the ground between
two flows: the moist and relatively cool south-westerly
monsoon flow to the south and the dry and warm
northeasterly Harmattan flow to the north (Hastenrath,1985;
Bou Karamet al., 2008; Flamantet al., 2009).
• The monsoon season in West Africa starts with the
propagation of the ITD from the Gulf of Guinea coast towards
the north during the months of March and April.
• This defines the beginning of the first rainy season over the
Guinean coast region south of 10◦N (Sultan and Janicot,2003).
• During the following months, the ITD continues to move
inland (Lothon et al., 2008), reaching its northernmost
climatological position at about 21◦N in July and August
(Sultan et al., 2007).
ITD and Wind
• It is primarily called inter-tropical discontinuity
ITD as opposed to Inter-tropical convergence
zone (ITCZ), because unlike ITCZ, the zone of
active weather are found at about 1.5o (about
150km) south of ITD.
• Dhonneur (1971) classified the weather in
zone relative to the position of ITD
• Zheng and Eltahir (1998) defined ITD as the
latitude of maximum boundary layer entropy.
• It is also defined as the latitude of the center
of thermal low by (Omotosho, 1976).
Space-time evolution of ITD from ERA40 dataset (1991-2000) (Ajayi., 2013)
Weather zones relative to surface position of
ITD
• The northernmost zone, zone A, is located to the north of the
intertropical discontinuity (ITD; also known as intertropical front,
ITF) that separates, at about 20°N, the hot and dry northerly
surface flow to the north from the moist and cool southwesterly
monsoon flow to the south.
• Precipitation is rare in this zone (Figure 1.1, lower panel), and
daytime maximum temperatures in excess of 40°C are frequent .
• The dryness is expressed by low dew point temperatures (<15°C),
and this zone also hosts the West African surface heat low; that is,
the zone of minimum surface pressure
• Zone B is the narrowest zone in terms of latitude, where the moist
monsoon layer, defined here as the lower tropospheric layer with a
westerly wind component, is shallow, and only short-lived
outbreaks of thunderstorms occur
Weather zones relative to surface position
of ITD
• Zone C is the zone of maximum thunderstorm and shower
activity and associated precipitation, as indicated by the deep
convective cloud.
• Here, low-level south-westerlies change to mid-level easterlies
associated with the AEJ Zone C is also overlaid by the upper
level TEJ.
• In zone D, deep convective clouds are infrequent and shallow
stratus or mid-level altostratus clouds dominate, except for
some rainy parts along the Guinea Coast, as for example the
Niger delta and the region to the southwest of Cape Palmas.
• In the other zone D regions the ‘little dry season commences
in July and sometimes in August.
• The moist monsoon layer is deepest at the Guinea Coast (~4–
6°N) and shoals further inland. It meets the surface at around
20°N to define the ITD
2m Temperature Distribution
• The seasonal cycles of the 2 m temperature (coloured)
and dew point temperature (contours) indicates that
Guinea Coast remains in the humid air with dew point
temperatures in excess of 22°C.
• In April, the continent heats up with highest daily mean
temperatures of 32–34°C at about 15°N. Here, daytime
maximum temperature can well exceed 40°C, and even
45°C in places, putting considerable thermal stress on
the population.
• The cold oceanic Canary Current off the West Coast
considerably cools the coastal areas from Guinea-
Bissau northward in January and April and causes a
pleasant climate
• In July, the cold coastal waters retract northward
and the Cape Verde Peninsula area experiences
warm waters exceeding 26°C.
• In the same month, hottest daily mean
temperatures of 36–38°C occur in the WAHL
region over the western part of the Sahara.
• The ITD is now located at about 20°N. Note the
relatively cool temperatures in the southern
zone. At the Guinea Coast the little dry season is
rather cool (24–26°C, due to the cold air
advection from the Gulf of Guinea and frequent
low-level cloud cover
The Hovmöller diagram in illustrates the seasonal cycle of 2 m
temperatures.
It demonstrates the:
 the asymmetry with a slow onset and swift
withdrawal in terms of temperature and rainfall,
 how the rains penetrate the continent in
the wake of the heat low and
 cooler and drier little dry season at the
Guinea Coast around August.
RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION
• Rainfall climatologies from surface rain gauges

for 1981 to 2010 suffer from the degradation
of the network for various reasons, or
unavailability of existing data.
• Figure shows a gauge-based climatology for
the 39-year period 1951 to 1989.
The following three salient
features are noteworthy:
 the strong rainfall decrease
from the northern Soudanian
zone to the Sahara by about 145
mm per 100 km;
 particular wet regions at
the southwest coast and the
Guinea Mountains, to the west of
the Cape of The Three Points, at
the mouth of the Niger River, and
in the Cameroon Line Mountains;
a dry zone that stretches from
the Coast of Ghana across
southern Togo and Central Benin
into northwestern Nigeria. This
region is called the Ghana–Benin
dry zone
• The Hovmöller (time–space)
diagram elucidates the seasonal
south–north migration of rainfall in
West Africa. Worthy of mention
are:
• a slower inland penetration
of rains until August when
compared with the
withdrawal;
• a stronger first rainy season
in May/June along the Guinea
Coast;
• the ‘monsoon jump’ around
24 June (Sultan and Janicot,
2003) and the subsequent
‘little dry season’ at the
Figure shows the rainfall maps for the months
of January, April, July and October 1998 to
2012.
 In January, the maximum
rainfall zone is located over the equatorial
Gulf of Guinea and infrequent rains
amounting to 25–75 mm occur in the Cape
Palmas and Niger delta areas
The majority of the continent records less

than 25 mm at the peak of the dry season.
However, typically up to two major rainfall
events do occur during an average dry season
between November and February in the
region between 7.5° and 15°N in association
with tropical–extratropical interactions
The 75 mm isohyet (contour of mean rainfall)
reaches up to 10°N in April, and, based on
rainfall thresholds, by this time the monsoon
has already commenced in the Niger delta
and southern Guinea Coast (e.g. Bello, 1996).
In this month, convective rainfall events are
still often related to disturbances
 In July, after the dynamical onset of the monsoon, rainfall
in the Soudano-Sahelian zone is dominated by organised
convective systems that are often weakly coupled to
synoptic features and only weakly influenced by extra
tropical systems.
 On the continent, maximum monthly rainfall on the order
of 200 mm is recorded in the Soudanian zone (9–12.5°N),
but rainfall in excess of 75 mm reaches as far north as 16–
17°N into the central Sahel.
 The rainfall map discloses the presence of the little dry
season at the Coast of Ghana, a weaker little dry season in
the western Ivorian Gulf and the persistence of stronger
rains in most parts of coastal Nigeria.
• In October, the rainfall belt retracts equatorward, with
substantial rains persisting on the Jos Plateau and Guinea
Mountains.
 Stations located Guinea coast to the east of Cape Palmas have
a bimodal rainfall distribution with more abundant rains during
the first rainy season in May/June, less rain during the second
rainy season in October, and a little dry season in July–August
(see Axim and Accra).
 The little dry season weakens toward the Niger delta, and Port
Harcourt shows only a weak bimodality, if any.
 Accra, in the centre of the Ghanaian part of the Ghana–Benin
dry zone, only receives 661 mm of annual rainfall, compared
with 1859 mm in Axim further west
• All stations further north have a unimodal rainfall
distribution:
• Parakou, located at around 9°N in the transition zone
between the Guinea coastal and Soudanian zones, has
a single, but broad rainfall peak culminating in August .
• The peak gets narrower and shallower the more
northward the stations are located (Bamako,
Maiduguri, Dakar, and Niamey; Agadez is located at the
southern fringes of the Sahara and receives only 136
mm in an average year.
Rainfall Probability Function
Figure exemplifies empirical rainfall probability density functions both in

terms of daily rainfall amount and of frequency in bins of 5 mm for the
same stations earlier.
• that daily rainfall totals between 0 and 5 mm are most frequent (green
bars ). This is especially true for the wettest stations Port Harcourt and
Axim.
• For these stations, daily rainfall totals between 5 and 10 mm contribute
the largest fraction to the annual rainfall. Bamako and especially
Parakou are stations at which daily rainfall of 15–20 mm contributes the
• Several other stations, like Dakar, Agadez, Maiduguri and Accra, have a
rather equal contribution of rainfall intensities of up to 25 mm to the annual
total.
• The main contribution of daily rainfall amounts of about 10–25 mm to the
annual total hints at the dominance of rainfall from strong mesoscale
convective systems (MCSs).
• MCS is the generic term for an organised convective system that has an
extensive and cold cloud area in infrared satellite imagery and produces a
contiguous precipitation area on the order of 100 km or more in at least one
direction (Glickmann,2000).
Evapotranspiration
Figure shows annual patterns of ET and P (taken from

TRMM
 ET reaches up to 2–3 mm day in the vegetated zones,
but decreases over the Sahel to values of about 1 mm
day due to the lack of soil moisture and vegetation.
ET - P is negative over the Guineo-Soudanian zone (Fig
b), with the highest values of -3 to -5 mm day over the
Niger delta and the southern part of the Cameroon Line
Mountains
A negative ET - P is indicative of surface runoff in rivers
and/or soil infiltration.
The Atlantic Ocean waters adjacent to West Africa also
reveal an excess of rainfall over evaporation, except at the
west coast north of Guinea and over the equatorial Gulf
of Guinea.
 In the Sahel and Sahara, ET - P is near zero, indicating
arid regions without permanent river flow.
Pressure distribution
Figure shows MSLP and 10 m wind vectors for
January, April, July and October.
• In winter, an east–west zone of low pressure
between 1009 and 1011 hPa is located just
north of the Guinea Coast at about 7–8°N.
• The Guinea Coast thus experiences a weak
onshore monsoonal flow.
• To the north of this weak winter-time heat
low, the Harmattan winds blowing from the
northeast are stronger, reaching about 4–5
m/s
Pressure distribution
• In April, the heat low establishes itself in the central
Sahel, with lowest values below 1007 hPa in the Lake
Chad area.
• Monsoon winds intensify over the Gulf of Guinea and
penetrate the continent as far as 12°N.
• The Harmattan winds weaken due to the weakening of
the high pressure in the northern Sahara.
• In July, the heat low shifts northwestward and is
situated over the western part of the Sahara, over
northern Mali, therefore, it is termed ‘West African
heat low’ (WAHL)
• In October, the heat low weakens and the monsoonal
southwesterlies start their retreat from the continent
Conclusion
• In this lecture, a climatological description of
many observables describing the WAM has
been presented.
• The latest observational platforms and
reanalyses were used as the basis for
presenting the key features of the regional
climate, and for explaining the physical
linkages between
Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters’ Handbook
Chapter 2: Synoptic Systems - Lead Authors: R Cornforth, Z Mumba, DJ Parker
INTRODUCTION
 West Africa weather is a
complex interaction of
various synoptic systems
Figure 1.0: A sketch of the dynamics of the West Africa weather

systems. Source: Proceedings of the Pre-WAMEX (West African
Monsoon Experiment) Symposium on the West African Monsoon,
Ibadan, Nigeria 1-3 November, 1978.
Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook
Editors: DJ Parker and M Diop-Kane
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons
Major Continental-Scale Synoptic Systems in West Africa

The Saharan heat low (SHL; Rácz and Smith, 1999; Parker et
al., 2005b; Lavaysse et al., 2010, 2011; Smith and Spengler,
2011)
The Inter-tropical Discontinuity (ITD) or Inter-tropical Front
(ITF) (Flamant et al., 2007)
The two summer Jets
 African Easterly Jet (AEJ) (Burpee 1972; Cook,1999,
Thorncroft and Blackburn 1999)
 Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ)(Newell and Kidson 1984; Grist
and Nicholson 2001)
African Easterly Waves (e.g; Thorncroft and Hoskins, 1994)

The Saharan Heat Low (SHL)

 Heat lows and heat troughs generally are prominent climatological
features in many arid land areas of the world during the warmer
months, especially in low latitudes where insolation is at its peak.

 One of the most prominent examples is the summer heat low
over the Sahara Desert.
 The dynamics and intra-seasonal variability of SHL is very
important on the WAM diurnal and synoptic circulations.
 The SHL are warm‐cored, surface‐based low pressure systems
situated over land, and are generally contained within the
lower troposphere below about 600 hPa.

Figure 2.1: Characteristics of the Saharan

Heat Low seen in ECMWF ERA Interim
climatological mean (1989-2009) fields
for June/July/August (JJA) for (a) mean
sea level pressure, (b) temperature at
850 hPa.
• It is evident that the low Mean

Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) (Figure
2.1a) centered at about 22°N,
3°W, coincides with the location
of temperature maxima at
850hpa level (Figure 2.1b)
• This location is the position of the
Saharan heat low
Figure 2.1: Characteristics of the Saharan

Heat Low seen in ECMWF ERA Interim
climatological mean (1989-2009) fields for
June/July/August (JJA) for (c) 2 metre
temperature and (d) orographic height.
 The low pressure cell as observed in

Figure 2.1a is bounded by Atlas mountain ATLAS
to the north and Ahaggar mountain to
the east, the Atlantic Ocean is to the west Ahaggar
(Figure 2.1d).
 It can be summarized that the heat low in
this area is due to interplay of orography,
sea surface temperature (SST) and the
prevailing broad‐scale flow conditions.

Features of SHL
Large diurnal variation in the low‐level cyclonic circulation (Rácz and Smith,
1999; Spengler et al, 2005).
The mean winds are relatively calm throughout the day, while the growth of a nocturnal
low‐level jet leads to strong convergence and the formation of a super ‐geostrophic low ‐
level cyclonic circulation during the night.
 The nocturnal low‐level jet can yield high values of vertical

low‐level shear that might be hazardous for air traffic.
 Over northern Africa, the effect of a nocturnal increase of

the low‐level convergence is also important for the
advection of moisture into the Sahel region (Parker et al.,
2005b; Lothon et al., 2008), particularly during the
monsoon
Meteorology of Tropical onset
West Africa: The Forecasters' period
Handbook in June.
Forecasting of SHL
Forecasters in the Sahel and Guinea Coast zone often look to the synoptic
station temperatures in Mauritania, Mali and Niger as indicators of a likely
strengthening of the monsoon circulation in subsequent days, due to stronger
south–north temperature and pressure gradients.
 Parker et al. (2005b) confirmed that the strength of the thermal anomalies in
the heat low region is correlated with strengthening nocturnal monsoon winds
further south.

Impacts of SHL variability

Chauvin et al. (2010) and Roehrig et al. (2011) has shown that on
timescales of 10–25 days, variability in the SHL (with some extra-
tropical influences) can be strongly related to subsequent
anomalies of rainfall in the Sahel about 5 days later.
 Also, ‘Ventilation’ of the SHL by cool advection from the

Mediterranean can weaken the Sahelian pressure gradient and
reduce subsequent rainfall over the Sahel.
An intense SHL leads, for example, to a stronger monsoon

circulation and increased convection in the Sahel in the
subsequent days.
InterTropical Discontinuity (ITD)

The ITD is a zone of confluence of the winds, and an air‐
mass boundary, which separates the hot, dry Saharan air
from the cooler, moist monsoonal air in the spring and
summer months.
 ITD is neither a true discontinuity nor a simple
‘front’, because it has a very mobile and dynamic
structure.
 It is one of the key features used by forecasters to
analyse the state of the monsoon on a synoptic
chart, since it maps the northward extent of the
Different weather zones in August, as defined by Weischet
(2000) and .
Zone A lies north of the ITD. Weather is characterized by

small clouds, dry continental air, winds are north-
easterly and rainfall is low.
Zone B is just south of the ITD with a spread of about 320

km. It is mostly rainless but due to the humid maritime
air precipitation events are mainly restricted to isolated
thunderstorms.
Figure 3: Weather zones relative to the surface location of ITD in
 Zone C extends for about 800 km south of zone B and
August(Source: Weischet, 2000)
significant changes occur in the rainfall activity.
Precipitation mainly occurs due to local convectional and
squall line events.
Zone D stretches approximately 300 km south and with

its high humidity and frequent rainfall events it has a
Editors: DJ Parker and M Diop-Kane strong monsoonal character. This is shown in the shower
Diurnal Behaviour of ITD

On a daily basis the ITD is governed by the same physical processes that control
the heat low.
 At night, when boundary‐layer mixing is very weak, the cool monsoonal
air to the south of the ITD accelerates northward, into the low pressure of
the heat low.
 This means that the ITD can surge northward by several hundred
kilometres overnight.
 Stations in the northern Sahel/southern Sahara that have experienced a

hot, dry afternoon with light winds can experience cooler, moister winds
with a southerly component arriving overnight.

African Easterly Jet (AEJ)

 The AEJ is a distinct and robust feature of the tropical North African climate which has
a significant influence on synoptic variability, and in particular AEWs.
 The African Easterly Jet (AEJ) is as a result of the positive meridional temperature
gradient between the Guinea coast in the south and the Sahara desert in the north.
 This thermal gradient leads to the wind maximum (AEJ) at about 700hpa. This middle
tropospheric jet is located over much of northern West Africa during the northern
hemisphere summer.
 The AEJ has maximum (climatological) easterly wind speeds of 15 m/s in the layer
700-600 in approximate thermal wind balance with the lower tropospheric
temperature gradient from south to north (or baroclinicity; Cook, 1999)
 Burpee (1972) described AEJ as a response to low-level baroclinic zone and the
reversal of the temperature gradient in the middle troposphere, with strong vertical
and horizontal wind shears.
 The vertical wind shear associated with the AEJ is crucial to the organization of moist
convection and the generation of squall line (Cook,1999) .
 The AEJ is associated with an ageostrophic circulation that enhances upward motion
and deep convection south of the jet and downward motion north of the
jet(Cook,1999)
The two summer Jets in West Africa

Seasonal Activity of AEJ (Grist 2002)
Mean intensity and location of the AEJ core averaged from 10°W to 20°E for 1958-97
(from Grist 2002).

Tropical Easterly Jet
• The tropical easterly jet, or TEJ, is an upper
tropospheric easterly jet (located between
100-150 hPa) that extends across the tropics
from the eastern Indian Ocean to western
Africa.
• Maximum wind speeds associated with the jet
are on the order of 35-40 m/s and are typically
found between 5-10°N from southern India
toward the east coast of Africa.
• Over West Africa, its core is at about 10oN
between June and September.
• The TEJ is found on the southern periphery of the
upper tropospheric anticyclone atop the Tibetan
plateau that is associated with the Indian
monsoon.
• Indeed, the TEJ is intricately linked to the Asian
monsoon, particularly its divergent upper
tropospheric anticyclone.
• Unlike the AEJ, rainfall is more abundant over
West Africa with stronger TEJ and indeed vice-
versa.
Mesoscale Convective System
Definition
• Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) is defined as well
organized convective cloud cluster oriented north to south
and moving from East to West and characterized by rainfall,
gusty wind and thunderstorm.
• This weather system is very important over West Africa
because it accounts for more than 70% of rainfall in the
region and about 95% in the Sahelian belt (Omotosho,
1985).
• In West Africa, MCSs are often triggered by elevated
daytime heating and orography (Rowell and Milford, 1993).
• These storms typically propagate westward away from their
source regions, such that the timing of peak precipitation
occurs later and later as the MCS moves farther and farther
away from its source region (Hodges and Thorncroft, 1997).
• To a large extent, West African squall lines are dependent on or controlled by
the summertime monsoon oscillations.
• They are absent when the monsoon retreats from most parts of West Africa
(November – March), suppressed if the monsoon is too deep ( giving way to
‘monsoon rain’ over coastal regions in June/July and very violent when the
monsoon depth is about 1 – 2 km especially north of 11°N.
• However, the variation of the monsoon depth is not the only important factor
determining squall lines/thunderstorms occurrence.
• Other basic conditions such as:
 The presence of a deep layer of convective or conditional instability.
 A release mechanism for the instability, usually in the form of low-level
convergence or topography must be satisfied.
• Even then, propagating convective development is not guaranteed. This issue
will soon be addressed.
• There are two squall line/thunderstorm seasons for regions up to 11°N but
only one to the north of 11°N.
• The monsoon precipitation in June and later, the so-called ‘little dry season’
(LDS) of West Africa which affect only coastal areas south of 10°N during
July/August both occur between the two storm seasons.
• Thus, most of the precipitation is from these deep convective systems while
the entire rainfall of the Sahel comes from the storms.
• In fact, it has been shown (e.g. Glantz, 1976 and Omotosho, 1985) that squall
lines and thunderstorms deliver more than 60% of the total annual
precipitation of areas south of 10°N and as much as 80% or more north of this
latitude as shown in Fig. 37.
• Also, their destructive capacity is magnified in the loss of millions of naira
worth of food and cash crops and property by accompanying strong winds
(gusts).
• These convective systems are therefore very important to the socio-economic
politics of the region as a whole.
Mechanism of Storm Development and Sustenance

• Several researchers have attributed squall line formation to different
mechanisms.
• It was initially believed that orography played a major role in their initiation
and alignment e.g. Barrefors (1964), until Omotosho (1984) showed that
although these physical features do influence the intensity of the storms, the
storms do not, in general, owe their existence to orography.
• Later and even at present, the propagation storms are regarded as the
products of low-level convergence associated with the synoptic-scale
easterly waves in areas where the atmosphere is convectively and
conditionally unstable (see for example, Reed et. al. (1979) and Adefolalu
(1985)) because they occur during the period (May – September) of wave
activity.
• Fig. 37b shows that squall lines are found almost any where on the easterly
wave although mostly ahead of the wave trough.
• Also Omotosho (1981), Mcbride & Gray (1980) have demonstrated that the
waves only have a modulating but not a forcing effect on deep convection
over the GATE area. (GATE is GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment and GARP is
Global Atmospheric Research Programme).
• Notwithstanding all these, it is to be emphasized that the release mechanism
is a crucial stage in thunderstorm development.
• The required low level convergence usually manifests itself as cyclonic
vortices or convergence lines (often as asymptote of convergence) at 900 or
850hPa level.
• When the vortices are accompanied by easterly waves at the 700hPa level,
the depth of convergence increases and hence upward motion is generally
enhanced.
• Vigorous thunderclouds results especially if the convective available potential
energy (CAPE), proportional to the buoyancy of the in-cloud rising air parcel,
is large. This is the perceived role of the easterly perturbation.
• Now, regarding the forcing mechanism for thunderstorms and squall line, it is
now evident that the existence of a mid-tropospheric wind maxima, the AEJ,
with reversed shear in the lower levels is important to their development
(Moncrief and Miller, 1976; Bolton, 1981).
• The systems are in quasi-state with the density current (gust front) feeding
the cloud cells with warm and moist (high θe) air of the monsoon as shown in
Fig. 38.
• It is also suggested that the simultaneous presence of positive boundary layer
vertical wind shear, moist layer of at least 1km depth and a distant and
organized AEJ are all necessary conditions for wide spread thunderstorms to
develop and be aligned into a line (see e.g. Fig. 39).
• Most recently, Omotosho (1987) found that the storms occur most frequently
when boundary layer Richardson Number Ri is within the range - 2≤ Ri ≤ 0
and also 1≤ Ri ≤4 in the middle troposphere.
Ri = - (g/θ)(∂θ/∂z)/∣∂V/∂z∣2 = - (g/θ)(∂θ/∂z)/∣(∂u/∂z)2 + (∂v/∂z)2∣
(This is the rate of destruction of thermal stratification by kinetic energy)
• The interaction between the clouds, gust front and the boundary layer is
essentially that of the Conditional Instability of the Second Kind (CISK).
• Such interaction is possible only because of the peculiar regime over West
Africa which causes the relative flow to enter the storm clouds from the front.
• The storm cloud sucks in cool, dry (low θe) air from the front in the layer 800-
600hPa and becomes the evaporative downdraft due to the drag of the falling
precipitation.
• Some of the precipitation is evaporated into the downdraft which is cooled
and then reaches the surface as strong gust of wind.
• Because of the large temperature contrast and wind shifts across the
boundary of this cold inward rushing air and the very warm, moist ambient
(high θe) air at and close to the ground, a frontal zone (gust front) is formed.
• The warm, moist boundary layer air is thus forced upward into the cloud. This
way the storms are assured of much needed moisture and hence the
accompanying latent heat release.
• The precipitation into the large scale flow then enhances the moisture
convergence at the gust front and the continued sustainance of the storms
until the front travels too far ahead of the storm cloud.
• At this stage, the moisture supply (and hence latent heat) is drastically
reduced or cut-off and the storm begins to decay while a new one develops
ahead of the decaying one.
Comparison with Squall line of other Region
• West African squall lines are similar in many respects to their counterparts
over Venezuela although they occur within dissimilar flow regime.
• They all propagate through, and in general travel faster than the basic flow at
all levels in the cloud layer. This property causes inflow of air into these
systems from the front.
• This is in contrast to mid-latitude squall lines which are advected since they
travel at nearly the mean wind speed in the cumulonimbus layer.
• Again, unlike temperate squall lines, tropical ones are associated with larger
values of the Richardson number, Ri.
• While tropical storms are characterized by values of Ri greater than 2.0 in the
convective layer, temperate latitude storms are associated with lower
Richardson number (Ri ≤ 1.0, high wind shear).
• The transfer of momentum in tropical storms of Venezuela and West Africa
are distinctive and of large magnitude.
• Also, their propagation speed cs is almost constant over a wide range of Ri.
African easterly waves (AEWs)
Definition
• African easterly waves (AEWs) are the primary
synoptic systems that occur over tropical North
Africa and the tropical north Atlantic during the
summer.
• These waves, which propagate westward, are
important because they are linked with
convective rainfall, the variability of which can
have devastating societal impacts in Africa.
• They are also noted for being precursors to
tropical cyclones in the tropical Atlantic and east
Pacific Ocean basins.
Climate and Geography
• The African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and AEWs are

major features of the West African monsoon,
these includes
– the Sahara Heat Low;
– cool, moist low-level monsoon air from the Atlantic
Ocean and
– hot and dry low-level air from the Sahara separated
by the Inter-tropical Front (ITF);
– the AEJ,
– the Saharan Air Layer (SAL);
– convection in the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ).
• The formation and evolution of easterly waves
and associated convection is influenced by the
topography of tropical North Africa,
particularly the Ethiopian Highlands and
Darfur Mountains, the easternmost mountain
ranges. Observations from Niamey (Niger),
Bamako (Mali), Dakar (Senegal), and Praia
(Cape Verde) are used to track easterly waves.
Structure, Speed, and Frequency
• AEW can be described as a trough or cyclonic curvature maximum that

develops on the AEJ, which has maximum speed between 600 and 700
hPa.
• The most well-defined AEWs have the following characteristics:
– Wavelength of 2000 to 4000 km
– Period of 3-5 days
– Move westward at speeds of 7–8 m s-1, about 6–7 degrees
longitude per day
– Latitudinal extent of 10 to 15 degrees
– Maximum amplitude in the low to mid-troposphere
– Exists apart from the ITCZ, although they may extend into that area
– An intermittent 6–9 day wave has also been observed. Those AEWs
occur mostly north of 15°N, have wavelengths of about 5000 km,
and move westward at about 6 m s-1.

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CLIMATOLOGY OF WEST AFRICA

Dr. Vincent O. Ajayi

• Rainfall climatologies from surface rain gauges

The majority of the continent records less

Figure exemplifies empirical rainfall probability density functions both in

Figure shows annual patterns of ET and P (taken from

Figure 1.0: A sketch of the dynamics of the West Africa weather

Major Continental-Scale Synoptic Systems in West Africa

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

The Saharan Heat Low (SHL)

months, especially in low latitudes where insolation is at its peak.

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

Figure 2.1: Characteristics of the Saharan

• It is evident that the low Mean

Figure 2.1: Characteristics of the Saharan

 The low pressure cell as observed in

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

level cyclonic circulation during the night.

 The nocturnal low‐level jet can yield high values of vertical

 Over northern Africa, the effect of a nocturnal increase of

strengthening of the monsoon circulation in subsequent days, due to stronger

south–north temperature and pressure gradients.

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

Impacts of SHL variability

 Also, ‘Ventilation’ of the SHL by cool advection from the

An intense SHL leads, for example, to a stronger monsoon

InterTropical Discontinuity (ITD)

from the cooler, moist monsoonal air in the spring and

Zone A lies north of the ITD. Weather is characterized by

easterly and rainfall is low.

Zone B is just south of the ITD with a spread of about 320

air precipitation events are mainly restricted to isolated

Precipitation mainly occurs due to local convectional and

squall line events.

Zone D stretches approximately 300 km south and with

Diurnal Behaviour of ITD

 Stations in the northern Sahel/southern Sahara that have experienced a

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

African Easterly Jet (AEJ)

The two summer Jets in West Africa

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

Seasonal Activity of AEJ (Grist 2002)

Meteorology of Tropical West Africa: The Forecasters' Handbook

Mechanism of Storm Development and Sustenance

• The African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and AEWs are

• AEW can be described as a trough or cyclonic curvature maximum that

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