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 three regions in the semi-arid add West African subtropics. Considered are three basically latitudinal zone, Sahelo-Saharan (∼18–20°N),Sahefian (∼12–18°N) and Soudanian (∼12–15°N). The series, based on a total of 1 18 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.