Articles | Volume 6, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1365-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1365-2025
Research article
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06 Nov 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 06 Nov 2025

Drivers and impacts of westerly moisture transport events in East Africa

Robert Peal and Emily Collier

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Cited articles

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Beucher, S. and Lantuéjoul, C.: Use of Watersheds in Contour Detection, in: International Workshop on Image Processing: Real-time Edge and Motion Detection/Estimation, 2.1–2.12, http://cmm.ensmp.fr/~beucher/publi/watershed.pdf (last access: 3 November 2025), 1979. a
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Executive editor
This study adopts the concept of atmospheric rivers, which is often applied in the extratropics, in an innovative manner to study the synoptic moisture fluxes in tropical East Africa, a region that stands out in terms of its inter-annual rainfall variability with large socio-economic impacts. In doing so, the authors are able to provide critical insights into the mechanisms underlying this rainfall variability and connect inter-annual changes to shorter time scales and specific synoptic events, including tropical cyclones and phases of the Madden-Julian Oscillation.
Short summary
Anomalous westerly winds bring moisture into East Africa, increasing precipitation in the region. Using the first spatially unconstrained framework to detect this circulation and associated precipitation, we show westerlies contribute up to 60% of rainfall in Tanzania in January and February, and are more likely when the Madden Julian Oscillation and/or tropical cyclones are active over the Indian Ocean. This work highlights the complex interactions driving regional precipitation variability.
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