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| Weather & Climate |
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WOLWEDANS WEATHER
STATION
Wolwedans maintains a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro-2
scientific weather station that digitally records the
following weather indicators: temperature, rainfall,
wind speed, wind direction, humidity, barometric pressure,
heat index, wind chill, dewpoint and temperature-humidity-wind
index. |
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Please
click on a button below to view weather conditions recorded
at Wolwedans.
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| Note: The station
collects data which is sent via a wireless link to its
consol, connected to the Wolwedans computer. Current
weather conditions are updated every three hours, only
if the computer at Wolwedans is turned on. |
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CLIMATE LOCALLY
ON NAMIBRAND
Rainfall
Rainfall in the Namib occurs mainly in the form of convective
summer storms from which maximum precipitation is received
over the Escarpment to the east. The coastal Namib receives
an annual mean rainfall of only 15 mm, whereas this
increases further inland to the eastern edge of the
desert, which has an annual mean figure of up to 100
mm rainfall. NamibRand probably experiences an annual
mean rainfall of 70 - 80 mm. Most of the rain falls
during summer months, but the reserve is on the edge
of the winter rainfall area and occasionally receives
a small amount of winter rainfall, though this is normally
not more than a few millimetres.
Temperature
Temperature also changes quite dramatically from west
to east. The consistently cool conditions and high humidity
at the coast, caused by the ocean, give way to rapid
increases in temperature and decreases in humidity further
inland. Summer maximum temperatures can reach 43°
C on NamibRand, but usually cool down considerably at
night, due to the prevailing westerly winds. Winter
in the Namib can be bitterly cold, with minimum temperatures
falling below -4 C°.
Fog
The formation of fog is encouraged by the air inversion
caused by the Benguela current, and is a characteristic
feature at the coast. In the early mornings the south
westerly winds drift the fog inland. It usually extends
for about 50 km inland for the length of the Namib,
but occasionally fog occurs up to 100 km inland. Fog
reaches NamibRand approximately 10 - 20 days of the
year during the winter months. Unlike the ecology of
the coast, none of the fauna and flora of NamibRand
are dependant on moisture from the fog. Fog at the coast
is usually only of short duration, rising temperatures
from the interior have mostly dissolved it by noon,
even so, fog-water precipitation is the dominant moisture
source over western parts of the desert.
Wind
Wind is a very noticeable and extremely important component
of the Namib. One of its most obvious effects is the
formation of sand dunes. The prevailing south westerly
wind at the coast maintains the cool inversion layer
of air that prevents turbulence and rain forming. On
NamibRand during the summer, westerly winds usually
blow strongly in the afternoon, by the evening they
bring a welcome respite from the heat of the day. On
occasions the notorious east wind, or berg wind, is
dominant and often follows very soon after any rain
which the desert may have received. Wind regimes on
NamibRand do not always follow the same pattern as in
the Namib Sand Sea. Complex wind regimes are produced
locally by topography (shape of the landscape e.g. mountains
and valleys) and the strong thermal gradients between
the coast and the escarpment. These, in combination
with movement of large pressure systems in the interior
or over the ocean are what give us our complex pattern
of winds.
Wind is important for the desert ecosystem. Many plants
rely on wind for dispersal, such as annual grasses,
grass seeds are blown huge distances across the desert.
Wind also transports detritus, which is food for many
desert animals. You have only to look at the base of
a dune slipface following a strong wind to see the detritus
piles and the number of beetles feeding there. |
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