ITCZ - what do you do?

Africa has the largest landmass of all continents around the equator and extents from Tunisia at 37°21′ N to Cape Alghulas in South Africa at 34°51′15″ S. Climate is largely determined by latitude – and in particular a locations position in relation to the moving Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Rainfall follows the ITCZ, leaving the areas adjacent to it dry (see role of Hadley cells in distribution of rainfall here) and generally explains the humid tropic climates, and (semi-) arid climates of the subtropics.

However, the ITCZ does not remain in place. Over a year, the zone moves north and south following the Sun’s zenith point on Earth. The movement is more subtle over the oceans, more defined over land-masses like Africa. Please follow the link to a visualisation of the annual ITCZ migration. As clearly shown, regions located between the northernest and southernest location experience rainfall in much of the year, whereas higher latitude locations will only ‘get in touch’ with the ITCZ once a year. This explains the 1) rainfall variability throughout the average year and 2) rainfall variability between different latitude locations. For more maps, see my introductory post please!