Revised rainfall series for the West African subtropics.

Abstract

This note presents normalized annual rainfall departure series from the beginning of the century to 1975 for 3 regions in the semi arid W African subtropes. Considered are 3 basically latitudinal zones: Sahelo-Saharan (18-20oN), Sahelian (15-18oN) and Soudanian (12-15oN). The series, based on a total of 118 stations, exhibit remarkably parallel fluctuations, including a period of well-above-average rainfall throughout the 1950's and a drier period which set in about 1960 and culminated in the 1968-73 Sahel drought. -Author